Sandrine's Case - Softcover

"A consistently engaging court procedural. . . . The real treat is Cook's tender, gradual exploration of the push and pull between Samuel and Sandrine, an unlikely pair."--People (three stars) "Cook supplely strips the courtroom thriller down to its bones and then animates it with a warm, beating heart. . . . This is a story of the mysteries of a long marriage and of a couple who might or might not be meant for each other. Cook plays with and against the conventions of the noir mystery to craft a novel deeper and richer than the genre would seem to allow."--Columbus Dispatch "Sandrine's Case is a story of love lost and rediscovered during the course of a murder trial. Who but Thomas H. Cook could blend love and death with such seamless elegance? He remains one of my favorite writers."--Harlan Coben "With Sandrine's Case Thomas H. Cook once again proves he's one of the very best. Here he uses the courtroom as a prism on the inner workings of life and relationships. It is gripping, moving and elegiac. This book shows a master at work."--Michael Connelly "A mystery novel by Tom Cook is always something more, and unpredictable. It is very difficult to resist turning pages rapidly to discover the outcome of this disturbing case."--Joyce Carol Oates "Often praised for the clarity of his prose and the sheer drive of his storytelling, [Cook] deserves a special citation for bravery. In Sandrine's Case, he not only dares to write a novel with an unpleasant protagonist, but also makes him the narrator."--New York Times Book Review "Bravo to Cook for giving us a story that slowly grows with intensity and depth. . . . [An] insightful, cleverly nonlinear novel."--Christian Science Monitor "[A] wonderful genre-breaking novel. . . . Sandrine's Case is as good as anything written by Scott Turow and John Grisham."--Huntington News "A remarkable piece of writing that sits right at the top of the genre."--Deadly Pleasures "A tender love story in the form of a tense courtroom drama, Sandrine's Case is mystery, metaphor, and morality wrapped together in a nifty package, a chance to observe grace (or treachery) under pressure. Thomas H. Cook's elegant new novel offers all that great narrative pleasure. You'll be baffled right up to the Wow of an ending. What a terrific story!"--Susan Isaacs, author of Compromising Positions and Goldberg Variations "Who could write a gripping novel of tenderness and mercy--its subject a woman who might have decided to frame her husband for her own suspicious death? Thomas H. Cook has done just this. In his prime as a master storyteller, he goes from strength to strength."--Jacqueline Mitchard, bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean "Sandrine's Case is a heart-breaking, heart-stopping love story as well as a taut, gripping courtroom drama, woven as masterfully and diabolically as a hangman's noose. Nobody does it better than Thomas H. Cook!"--Judith Kelman, bestselling author of Summer of Storms and The First Stone "Sandrine's Case brings to mind Body Heat and Presumed Innocent, those pinnacles of adultery, marriage and murder. Thomas H. Cook is at his best here as he grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't let go until the verdict is announced."--Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle and The Red Thread "From the compelling opening to the poignant resolution, Sandrine's Case is a hauntingly beautiful and deeply moving novel that is at its core a story of a love both complex and enduring. Ingeniously conceived and elegantly written, it throbs with the suspense and insight into the human heart that we've come to expect of Thomas H. Cook."--Anne D. LeClaire, author of Entering Normal and The Lavender Hour "Cook is one of the finest crime writers of modern times. . . . Told in the sparest style, Sandrine gradually reveals the web of deceit that married couples can weave around each other until it threatens to suffocate them both: horrifying but hypnotizing."--Daily Mail (UK) "One of the best mystery novels I've ever read. Cook has it all. The nuanced engaging characters, the clean and subtle plot, a perfectly imagined setting, and a slow-burn pacing that makes it impossible to stop reading. . . . Don't miss it."--Globe and Mail (Canada) "Vintage Cook: different, interior, another one that resists categorization."--Providence Journal "A marvelous tale of human nature."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[A] slow-burning, intricate thriller. . . . This crime novel, one of [Cook's] best, builds to an unforeseen, but earned, climax."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Compelling . . . Cook deftly explores the question of what we truly know about the people we love--and, in reflection, what we truly know about ourselves."--January Magazine "[Cook's] lyrical prose, his flawless movement back and forth in time, his utterly surprising ending, and his masterful use of suspense put Sandrine's Case at the top of my list."--And Sometimes She Writes. . . "Sandrine's Case is loaded with quiet metaphor and shot through with turns of phrase that would fill a small notebook on their own. It can be read in one sitting. . . . Still, I suggest reading it slowly, taking in its nuances and perhaps even re-reading it after finishing, just to enjoy how Cook so carefully constructed it."--Bookreporter.com "Cook has a patented way of bringing out the deep and vulnerable heart of a character. . . . It is tenderness and kindness that mark Thomas Cook's novels and it is evident in the beautiful Sandrine's Case as well."--Murder By The Book

Shortlisted for the 2014 Edgar Award and Barry Award for Best Novel Thomas H. Cook is peerless in finding the humanity behind crime. In one of his greatest novels yet, a man explores unspools the history of his fractured relationship with his wife, as he stands trial for her murder. Samuel Madison always wondered why Sandrine chose him. He was a meek, stuffy doctorate student; she a brilliant bohemian with limitless imagination. On the surface, their relationship seemed tranquil: jobs at the same liberal arts college, a precocious young daughter, and a home filled with art and literature. And then one night Sandrine is found dead in their bedroom from an overdose of pain medication and alcohol, and Samuel is accused of poisoning her. As secrets about their often tumultuous marriage come to light in the courtroom, Samuel must face a town convinced of his guilt, a daughter whose faith in her father has been shaken to its core, and the truth about his wife, who never ceased being a mystery to him. Sandrine's Case is a powerful novel about the evil that can lurk within the heart of a seemingly ordinary man, and whether love can be reawakened even after death.