The Heaven's May Fall by Allen Eskens is a riveting murder case told from two different perspectives.
Read Janet Webb's review of The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens, and then make sure you're signed in and comment below for a chance to win a copy of all 3 of Allen Eskens's thrillers!
The Heavens May Fall is an intriguing title—what do those four words have to do with the murder of a lawyer’s wife? It can be traced back to a Latin quotation, Fiat justitia, ruat coelum: translated, “Let Justice Be Done, Though the Heavens May Fall.” Thought to have been said by Julius Caesar’s father-in-law, it crystallizes a view of justice that transcends the outcome of any specific inquiry or investigation. A colloquial version of this quotation is to “let the chips fall where they may.”
Detective Max Rupert is called in when Jennavieve Pruitt’s body is discovered. Who is the prime suspect when a wife is found dead? Inevitably, one thinks, “Cherchez the spouse!” While that may be, Rupert’s longtime friend, attorney Boady Sanden, decides to defend Jennavieve’s husband Ben, convinced that he is innocent.
Attorney Boady Sanden and Detective Max Rupert are antagonists given the murder investigation. The longtime friends share a core of judicial, investigatory integrity—they want to know, above all, who committed the crime. That tension is what makes the story come alive.
Also, four years earlier, Max Rupert’s wife Jenni was murdered. Her death remains unsolved. Try as he might, Rupert cannot put it behind him. Sanden is also affected by a case from his past—years earlier, a client died that he is convinced was innocent. Two deaths, two men haunted by what might have been.
Allen Eskens has a talent for bringing disparate police officers, law clerks, investigators, and medical examiners to life, as when Dr. Margaret Hightower joins the crime scene.
Behind them came the shuffle of tired feet and they both turned to see Dr. Margaret Hightower making her way down the alley—the grand dame of the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office. In her mid-sixties, Margaret moved with the gait of an eighty-year-old woman, carrying her hard life on her shoulders and in her face. For the past six years now, she wore a sobriety necklace, a silver dog tag with the inscription “one day at a time” etched on its face, and she no longer came to crime scenes with a hint of single-malt scotch on her breath.
Descriptions of post-mortems can be difficult to read—Max Rupert stands in for us when he thinks of how he learned to handle the smell of formaldehyde and the pulling of organs from a dead body. He hearkens back to a childhood memory.
It reminded Max of a day when he was a child and he watched his father replace the carburetor on their Dodge Dart. No wasted movements. Every part set aside on the garage floor in orderly formation. It was nothing to get emotional about—just a task that needed doing.
Perhaps in a post-mortem it helps to think bodies not people, but what makes The Heavens May Fall compelling is the humanity of the victim, her husband and daughter, and the cast of characters trying to solve the crime. Step by step, a fuller picture emerges of the married life of Pruitts. Jennavieve’s sister, Anna Alder-King, visits Max Rupert, suggesting that her sister’s prenuptial agreement might shed light on her death.
“You can get me copies of that prenup?”
“I’ll have it delivered,” she said. Then she turned to face him one last time. “I like you Detective Rupert, and that’s not something I say to many people. I get the feeling that, like myself, you know full well my sister was killed by her husband. I have complete faith that you won’t let me down.”
You can have complete faith that this complex story will hold your interest, from the first page to the complicated, creative ending.
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Janet Webb aka @janetnorcal has unpredictable opinions on books. Season ticket holder of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. Social media devotee. Stories on royals and politics catch my eye. Ottawa born. Grew up on the books of Helen MacInnes, Mary Stewart, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Anne Perry … I'm always looking for a great new mystery series.
Read all of Janet Webb's articles for Criminal Element!
Look to be excellent traditional murder mysteries!
Eager to read how the investigation impacts the friendship of the two antagonists.
“The Heavens May Fall” if I DON’T win this contest! (Or I could just lose.)
Thanks for an entry in the draw.
“Heavens May Fall” seems to be my cuppa T. Thanx for the chance to win otherwise I’ll be ordering!!
sounds like a good one!
This sounds like a terrific read. Would welcome a book with a creative ending.
Oh my this one looks so good, I love a story that has so many differant elements in it, I would love to read this and any others by this author. I am most interested. Thank you for the chance to enter!!!
I am desperate for new “thriller” reading material. This would be a great win!!! Presently I am a caregiver for a pre-dementia husband, and I am “going out of my mind” with so many new procedures on my plate! I love your sweepstakes. Thanks.
sounds interesting
I will win! Yes!
I would love to win! His books are great!
I’m such a big fan of Allen Esken’s books. I would to win the giveaway and have a copy of all three! =) Rachel
Eskins is part of the Seventh
Street Press stable and they are publishing some of the best new authors in the field—Top Notch All the Way.
Sounds great! Would be wonderfult to win all three.
im in
Please enter me
Sounds like a winner!!
I sounds like we have interesting personalities and histories other than the crime.
These seem like some good reads. I hope I win.
Would love to read both of these books!
Look like great mystery stories. Thanks for the chance to win! I am so in need of a good story to escape my reality
Looking forward to reading these books.
sounds great sign me up
Want!
sounds like a good book
I love books that tell the same story from different view points! Must read!
Sounds like a great book
I really need to read this!
Thanks for the sweepstakes!
Thank you for sponsoring this sweepstakes.
I really, really need this book to, you know, pick up the after-election slack!
looking forward to reading this
Would love to win!
Sounds like it will be a good read!
Sounds like it will be a good read!
The Life We Bury made my top five list two years ago. I expect The Heavens May Fall to be just as good.
This sounds like a great book. Can’t wait to read it!
I read the first Eskens novel, “The Life We Bury,” and it was really good — well written, and an interesting plot and characters. I’m looking forward to reading his next two (so I hope I win the contest!). But I agree with the other commenter … the Seventh Street Press is publishing some very good authors right now.
I read the first Eskens novel, “The Life We Bury,” and it was really good — well written, with an interesting plot and characters. I’m looking forward to reading his next two (so I hope I win the contest!). But I agree with the earlier commenter … the Seventh Street Press is publishing some very good authors and books these days.
this sounds like a great book.
I would love to read it
This author is new to me and I would love to give his work a try.
I love murder mysteries.
I would love to read the book.
mysterious
This review makes me interested in reading this book.
Enjoyed the review… Thank you for the entry opportunity!
Thanks for the chance to win.
wow all 3 books sound great, something my Mom and I would enjoy to read – thank you for the chance
Definitely intriguing and a book I’d like to read.
Sounds like the plot is chock-full of deftly-handled complications, which bodes for a very suspenseful read. Consider me hooked!
Sounds very intriguing. sign me up.
Oh, would very much like to read and review these three!
really interesting concept for a novel – liked the excerpt
Sounds good! Always on the lookout for a new author…
Sounds interesting. Hope I win.
This book is already on my reading wish list, so I would love to win it.
Looks interesting!
Would really like to read this one!
Sounds like an interesting story.
count me in
Would love to win this book!
This really sounds interesting.
Yes, please enter me in this sweepstakes.
Thanks!
Can’t wait to dive into these books. Please enter me in the sweepstakes!
This sounds like an excellent book and has given me another author to explore…thanks!
You always have the best selections of books! Thanks for the chance to win one!
Count me in, please!
Looks interesting.
sounds cool, a good read
I like what I read about Allen Eskins books with their creative endings. Would love to have a chance to read them.
Looks like a great series!
thanks I love a good murder mystery book
Looks like a really good mystery. Can’t wait to win!
Interesting way to tell the story, from the two perspetives.
I have already read the first two books by the author and they are terrific. It’s great that the sweepstakes includes all three books as the reader needs to start with the first in the series to follow the time/character progression. Volume 2 is a real heart-stopper.
this would be a great read on a cold winters night, thanks
I’d love to read this. It’s my sort of mystery. Wish me luck!
Intriguing. I like the two different perspectives. My turn to WIN!!!!
I like having both sides of the story to consider and form my own opinion. I hope to win this set, sure I would be up late every night til I found out who the killer is.
Always interesting to see the differences brought up by viewing circumstances from two different viewpoints. Would love to win!!
Always looking for new authors. This one soumds interesting and complex.
Would love to read this!!!~
thank you for the chance to win!
Sounds like a good book!! Thanks for the chance!!
I would like to read the work of Allen Eskens.
Thanks so much for the chance 🙂
Sounds like a great book
anxious to know how this turns out
I want to read these!
I can barely wiat to read. The Heavens May Fall. I would like to thank you for giving us a chance to win this today.
I’d love to compare the writing style to other thriller/murder mystery writers. Sounds like a good book!
thanks for the chance
sounds like a great read!
I would like this
They sound like great reads. Thanks.
I am looking forward to reading this.
Thanks for the great giveaway!
Oh, this is definitely something I would enjoy!
Looks like a great read !!
A woman in my book club has recommended this author’s books. I’m really anxious to read them.