Murder by Tradition by Katherine V. Forrest

Murder by Tradition
by Katherine V. Forrest
Pages: 272
Date: May 1 1993
Publisher: Naiad Press
Series: Kate Delafield (Fourth book in series)

Review
Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Read: February 9 to February 10 2015

Every book up until this one involved an investigation into murder. This time it's Law and Order. Opens with murder. Shortly thereafter the police arrest a man for the crime and he confesses. Rest of book is the murder trial.

One of the big points that pop up in both the defense of the defendant and among police officers who are supposed to be investigating the case is the "Homosexual Defense". Two-fold: 1) guy deserved to die because he was gay; 2) defendant deserves to get off due to how a "normal common sense person" would freak out if a homosexual person attempted . . . well, breathing near them.

Oh, and less seen, but this "homosexual element" also impacts the prosecution. None of the male attorneys want the case, so it gets "dumped" onto a female attorney who has never done a murder trial before.

Kate's police partner basically shuts down and wants nothing to do with the case when it turns out that the murder victim is a gay man, and the murderer, during the confession, notes that he freaked out and that's why he killed. Ed wants the guy to get involuntary manslaughter, if that, because gay people are icky. Also, the police officers interviewing neighbors, witnesses, etc., are quite brief as they don't wish to be involved with the case. So Kate has to handle the police side by herself. Mostly.

I wasn't sure how the murder trial would go. How it would be written. I had not read one written by Forrest before. First two witnesses were basically described as "they got up, they gave their testimony, they got off the stand." So, it wasn't looking that thrilling, but then things picked up. In the end, the trial parts were probably among the best scenes I've read.