“Conviction” by Julia Dahl – Summer of the Judged Innocent
At the time an open-and-shut case, twenty-two years later Rebekah receives a letter prompting her to dig into a deep past where the wrong man might have been convicted.
Julia Dahl Sends her Heroine to Examine the Past
Murder mysteries can be invariably complex and come in a large number of different varieties, and it's gotten to a stage where I think they could very well make up new genres on their own.
We all have our own preferences for what type of variety we're attracted to, and personally I've always had a bit of a soft spot for novels which take us on an investigation of the deep past. There is simply something uniquely satisfying of unearthing old and buried secrets meant to be forgotten in time, as Rebekah Roberts does in Conviction by Julia Dahl.
To begin with, this is indeed the third novel of the Rebekah Roberts series, and while it's not necessary to read the previous ones in order to understand this one, I still recommend you do so; they're both quality novels in their own right. However, if you choose not to, let's go on with the show.
Rebekah Roberts works as a journalist at a sleazy tabloid, and wants nothing more than to actually find a story worth telling, and with a bit of luck, to break out from the tedium of her existence. She gets just such a chance when a letter arrives on her desk saying “I didn't do it”.
She begins digging to find out what in God's name this is all about, and soon she discovers her investigation will take her all the way back to the Crown Heights riots of 1991.
More specifically, in the summer 1992, a black family was murdered in their Brooklyn home, and a teenager was quickly convicted without much of an investigation. He still maintains his innocence to this very day.
Feeling a very real and important story on the verge of being uncovered, Rebekah gives herself body and soul to uncovering the truth behind the murder. Unbeknownst to her, it puts her on a collision course with the real killer, one who has a lifetime of secrets to protect.
Reconstructing an Old Mosaic in Conviction
From the get-go, it becomes clear this isn't the type of murder to mystery to hold your hand through a linear investigative path, which I suppose is a strange way to qualify a book, which is anything but non-linear.
What I mean by this is the novel takes an all-encompassing approach to putting together the broken pieces of the mosaic, slowly filling us in on all kinds of details, some more important than others, and helping us construct a clear picture of not only what happened and to whom, by also why and how.
Consequently, this means the pace in this book isn't as fast as the average thriller of today, but it's handled quite well in the sense the author is always trying to add some new information into the mix.
Even if we aren't learning specifically about the murders themselves in a direct way during certain passages, our understanding of the events still grows more complete thanks to the secondary and tertiary elements we are briefly exposed to.
Personally, I would love it if more detective stories took this approach to solving their mysteries. We don't always need to be led from clue to the next until we find the villain; sometimes it can be just as, if not more rewarding to take a step back and understand the world as well as the people surrounding the crime itself.
I even found this method helped to drum up the atmosphere of mystery from start to finish, constantly pushing us to ask ourselves questions about the implications of the things we're seeing and their potential relevance to the main case.
A Past Defined by Loss
As I've mentioned it above, this is a story which delves into a relatively deep past, going back all the way to the year 1991, and it's not simply for the purpose of the plot. Dahl also takes some time to examine a subject which has been tragically at the forefront of the United States' struggles for many years: racial conflicts.
I understand how sensitive of a subject it is, and personally I don't think I can reasonably offer any valuable perspective since I haven't personally dealt with it or lived in the United States.
However, I can offer a perspective on how the subject is handled in the book, and in my opinion Julia Dahl gives a very balanced, compassionate and soberingly realistic.
Throughout Rebekah's investigation she is constantly making contact with people who, in one way or another, were or still are affected by the crime in the book, twenty-two years later. From start to finish, we learn a great deal about the community, the price they paid for loyalty, and how profoundly they were willing to go with personal denial.
I think it's fairly obvious by now this novel is loaded with heavy themes, but Dahl doesn't simply peer into the darkness of the past... she also makes attempts to look towards the light of a potential future.
The Final Verdict
Conviction by Julia Dahl is a fantastic addition to the series, offering us a far-reaching mystery solved in a compelling and uncommon manner, a wide cast of characters all calling for our attention, and some interesting reflections on one of today's most prevalent topics.
If you enjoyed the previous books in the series, or are looking for a detective mystery with some true depth to it, then I would say this novel would definitely be a good pick for you.
 | Julia DahlPersonal site Julia Dahl is an American writer born and raised who recently entered the literary game with her first novel, Invisible City, which was nominated for the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best First Novel. In addition, it became one of Boston Globe's Best Books of 2014. |
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