Pleasantville

The second book in the Jay Porter duology, Pleasantville (2015), Attica Locke’s thriller follows a lawyer undertaking his final deadly case. Nominated for the 2016 Women’s Prize for Fiction, it won the 2016 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. The book is popular with crime and thriller readers, who praise it for its layered plot and careful characterization. Locke is a film and television screenwriter. A graduate of Northwestern University, she is also a fellow of the Sundance Institute Feature Filmmaker’s Lab. Her debut novel, Black Water Rising, is the first book in the Jay Porter duology.

Jay Porter lives in Houston in 1996. He used to work as an attorney and social activist, successfully raising class action lawsuits against big companies. However, after his wife died from cancer, Jay retired from public life and now takes on very few cases. He focuses his attention on raising his two small children and grieving her death.

In the background, Bill Clinton has recently been re-elected President and it is time to elect a new mayor in Houston. Pleasantville, a small African-American suburb, is expected to swing the vote. Everyone, Jay included, expects the former chief of police, Axel Hathorne, to win, but it’s not a sure thing. A late candidate, Sandy Wolcott, enters the race; he’s a very popular defense attorney.



Jay doesn’t pay any attention to the election race until there is a murder in Pleasantville. The police find the body of Alicia Nowell, a young girl who had been out canvassing on Axel’s behalf when someone killed her. Axel’s nephew, Neal, is charged with her murder. Axel knows that Neal didn’t do it. He begs Jay to take on the case, because there is no one else he trusts with Neal’s fate. Jay, who thought he had put his legal career behind him, reluctantly takes on the case.

This is Jay’s first murder case. He spent his entire career in the civil courts, and he is worried he’s not up to the task. If Sandy were not running for mayor, he would be the perfect attorney for Neal. Jay, however, knows Sandy won’t back out of the race. Jay could also use the money to support his family; he only has one other active case on his books—a civil action case against a chemical plant dumping toxic waste into the water supply. The case isn’t going anywhere, and he’s not making any fees from it.

Jay focuses on building Neal’s defense. After speaking with Neal, he is convinced that the boy is innocent, but there is little evidence available. Axel is convinced that Sandy is somehow behind this, but Jay knows he needs evidence to convince a court of Neal’s innocence. He asks Rolly, a bored PI, and an unemployed journalist, Lonnie, to help him out. As a team, they look for a motive and analyze the crime scene in more detail.



Meanwhile, both Axel and Sandy use Alice’s death as ammunition for their political campaigns. They both declare that only they can keep the townsfolk safe. Sandy argues that Axel and his father, Sam, who owns the town, are not doing a good job and that it is time for new leadership. Axel, on the other hand, argues that Pleasantville did not have trouble like this until Sandy came along. Jay tries to shut out the political noise and focus on the case; he is angry that everyone seems to have forgotten that a young girl died and are, instead, obsessing over politics.

To make matters worse, Sandy prosecutes Alice’s case. Now Jay is convinced that Alice is a pawn to push Axel out of the race. He is more determined than ever to clear Neal’s name. However, the closer Jay gets to Sam Hathorne, the more he suspects that Sam is involved somehow.

Jay asks Rolly to investigate Sam. Rolly follows Sam and researches his business dealings. It turns out that Sam is loosely connected to other murders around town, and this worries Jay. He suspects his instincts about Sam are right, but he still doesn’t understand how Neal fits into everything. What Jay does know is that it doesn’t matter if Neal is convicted of Alice’s murder or released without charge—the campaign has been tainted now, and Axel is out of the running.



By the time Neal’s case reaches court, Jay knows his time to clear Neal’s name is running out. Jay relies on the lack of evidence against Neal, even if Neal doesn’t have a solid alibi. When it is clear that the jury is not on Neal’s side, Jay must focus on the burden of proof—Neal is not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, even if the evidence does not prove he is innocent. Neal, thanks to Jay’s efforts, is eventually acquitted, and Sam and Sandy’s involvement is exposed.