Book Review: The Perfect Alibi by Phillip Margolin


**Disclaimer: I received a free electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: March 5, 2019 
Description:
A young woman accuses a prominent local college athlete of rape. Convicted with the help of undisputable DNA evidence, the athlete swears his innocence and threatens both his lawyer and his accuser as he's sent to prison. Not long after, there's another rape and the DNA test shows that the same person committed both rapes—which is seemingly impossible since the man convicted of the first rape was in prison at the time of the second one. Now, the convicted athlete, joined by a new lawyer, is granted a new trial and bail. Shortly thereafter, his original lawyer disappears and his law partner is murdered.
Robin Lockwood is a young lawyer with a prestigious small law firm and a former MMA fighter who helped pay for Yale Law School with her bouts. She is representing the victim of the first rape for her civil lawsuit against her rapist, who is now convinced the rapist is stalking her and trying to intimidate her. At the same time, another client is up on a murder charge—one that should be dismissed as self-defense—but the D.A. trying the case is determined to bring it to trial. Now she has to mastermind two impossible cases, trying to find the hidden truth that links the two of them."

I thought the premise of the story was interesting - rich college kid rapes a girl, goes to jail, yet his DNA appears in another rape case. Makes you curious doesn't it? However, while the plot of the story was interesting since it's impossible for someone to have the same DNA as someone else if that person does not have an identical twin, that suspense/mystery only lasts so long. While this was the main case that starts the story, it kind of gets drowned out by the other cases that Robin gets involved in. It was able to hold my attention, as bits of the case gets revealed throughout the story, but in turn, it causes a ripple effect. Other secrets get revealed, people get killed and my attention slowly begins to fade, but it luckily lasts long enough till the end. 

Overall, reading this felt like a stream of Law & Order episodes happening back to back with a sprinkle of personal struggles from the MCs popping up here and there. Not bad, but it would have been better if the sole focus of the book was on one case rather than a bunch of cases (which widens the cast of characters, which is a bit confusing/overwhelming at times)because it made the plot too busy and caused my focus to crumble. I can't really say much about the book without revealing any spoilers since it is a mystery, but perhaps it would be worth your time if you're into Law & Order or mystery/thrillers. 



Overall rating: 3/5 

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