"The excellent and thoughtful story and the Colorado setting ought to be enough to send you straight to the bookstore."
—Rocky Mountain News
"A startling journey into pornographic film and elsewhere."
—Library Journal
"With superbly drawn characters, a story with grit and purpose, and a final denouement worthy of intense consideration, this latest mystery from Wesson comes highly recommended."
—New Mystery Reader
"A first-rate legal mystery."
—Mystery Scene
"Suspenseful and thought-provoking."
—I Love a Mystery
"[Wesson] deftly weaves the most provocative issues of our times into a smart, suspenseful tale that challenges our ideas of justice."
—Linda Fairstein
"A tight, compelling tale of suspense."
—Stephen White
"I love the Lucinda Hayes stories—each harder to put down than the last. Chilling Effect shows Wesson as both a mystery writer and law professor. I couldn't decide whether to take it to the beach or assign it to my first amendment class. Ultimately, I did both."
—Gene R. Nichol, dean and Burton Craig Professor of Law, University of North Carolina
"A searing look at violent pornography, its victims, and the professionals (legal and otherwise) who live well off its profits. It is also a gripping suspense story centered on a murdered child, her grieving mother, and the lawyer who tries to help, as well as a funny send-up of postmodern academic feminism. This entertaining book may change the terms of our debates around pornography and its harms."
—Robin West, professor of law, Georgetown University
Equal parts courtroom drama, intellectual journey, and character study, Chilling Effect is Marianne Wesson's most provocative Lucinda Hayes mystery to date.
When attorney Lucinda Hayes reluctantly agrees to represent the mother of a brutally slain child, she must convince the court that the makers of a pornographic film are liable for the murder. As the case unfolds, Lucinda calls upon all her personal strength and legal talent, facing down her own ghosts as well as the powerful entertainment industry's star lawyers.
In Chilling Effect, Wesson affirms the power of free speech to inspire the best and the worst human behavior and explores the tension between freedom and accountability.
