(4 / 5)
Tropical Judgments is the second book featuring Pancho, the charismatic, intelligent, Hawaiian defense attorney. He first appeared in Tropical Lies, which I really enjoyed so I wanted to check out the sequel.
This time, Pancho does a favour for a judge and takes on the case of Jackson Steele. Jackson is a young man accused of murdering one of Hawaii’s most beloved singer and dancer, Irene. At first Pancho is less than impressed at the prospect of another high profile murder case. However after meeting Jackson, Pancho becomes convinced that he is innocent. The case becomes personal for Pancho. Can he save Jackson from life in prison? And who really killed the beloved Irene?
This book took a long time to get started for me. I did have a busy week this week, but I found it really slow to get into. As I progressed I thought it felt like a carbon copy of the first one. There were scenes that echoed the first one almost exactly. I understand this was probably done to set the scene for the readers who did not read Tropical Lies and did not know Pancho, and I only read the first one less than two weeks ago so it was still fresh. However it soon picked up, and my reservations were unfounded as the courtroom drama played out extremely differently than the first and was extremely enjoyable!
I really enjoy Pancho’s character, however I didn’t feel it was explored much more in this one. Brief aspects of his history are mentioned but there isn’t much more depth to him second time around. However I still think he is a great character, and I enjoy his escapades with his PI and best friend Drew. I find Pancho’s romantic interest Paula a bit dull in this one too. It just doesn’t explore their relationship much more. It was just the same old same old.
The strength of this novel (like the first), plays out in the courtroom scenes. The research is obviously thorough and the clever courtroom dialogue and interrogation scenes really make this novel stand out among the courtroom dramas. After the trial began this novel really started to get interesting and I was glued to the rest.
The cover!?? Again, the cover doesn’t do the book justice and I don’t like it. I think with a clever design it could be so much better and entice many more people to read it. It would be a shame for people not to know this book because they look at the cover and move on.
Overall though, I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first one. But I would still recommend it for anyone who loves a good crime/courtroom mystery. I’m looking forward to the third installment.
Thanks to Bluewaterpress via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
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