What do You think about Not Guilty (2002)?
There are certain facts readers need to know about Keely Bennett. She taught American Literature in high school and was the advisor to the yearbook club. Then her husband commits suicide in a rather messy way and he is found by the couple’s young son. After that, the story gets really dark and messy. I’ll admit right up front that I am put off by authors who feel they have to search for synonyms for “said” in order to make dramatic points and who use a lot of italics for the same reason. For those reasons, the impression I take away from this novel is perhaps more negative than it should be.Billed as a dark psychological thriller, author MacDonald, who certainly can write well, seems to take the easy path in many instances in a story with considerable potential, with surprising twists and a protagonist I found difficult to like. Keely Bennett makes obvious mistakes, seems unable to think for herself in many instances, and is ultimately present at the final resolution, rather than creating it. She’s very good at despair and hand-wringing. Her son, Dylan, on the other hand seemed the very essence of a modern teenager, beset by adults who neither understand nor listen to him, a boy with a mother one step from being institutionalized, supportive friends at school, yet possessed of keen insight and a willingness to act while his mother dithers.
—Carl Brookins
