A Question of Trust

District Attorney Jack Hillard has regained, at least to some extent, the trust of his wife, Claire. He's back with his family, after an affair with Jenny Dodson, and trying to make no mistakes, but he can't seem to avoid them. First, his son Michael betrays his trust by getting it off with Celeste, a Jenny look alike, in the living room. Michael is too intoxicated to take her home, so Jack steps in. He accepts her story about an abusive father and agrees to let her sleep it off in his car. Celeste repays his thoughtfulness by accusing him of rape. At the same time, Jenny shows up and again he feels the attraction. Jack was getting his life together and now it's falling apart. He asks Claire if she can trust him, and she's equivocal. Does he deserve her trust? Will he be able to win it back? Does he want to?

I enjoyed this book, particularly the courtroom scenes, but I had problems with the characters' motivations. Jack seems incapable of seeing when he's making a mistake. Any father who takes his son's teenage girl friend home alone late at night is asking for trouble. Jack reasons that Claire needs her sleep, and he doesn't want to burden her with Michael's betrayal, but is this reasonable in a man who has just gotten back in his wife's good graces after having an affair?

His next mistake is going off with Jenny and spending the day talking. You can't blame Claire for finding trust a little hard to come by, but Claire also seems to be less than honest. She wants to keep Jack, apparently at any price, but is this a mature response?

Jenny also wants Jack and she's manipulative. You wonder why he doesn't see it. The story moves quickly, but I kept wondering why the characters were so blind. Trust is a major issue for all of them, but their actions put them in positions where trust is difficult

I can recommend the book, if you enjoy courtroom drama, but not for character development and plot.

I reviewed this book for Net Galley.