The Acquittal Paperback – October 14, 2014

My only problem with this book was that I had to periodically stop reading it to go to work! As someone who reads a lot of murder mysteries, I tend to anticipate how most plots are going to unravel. Can't ever do that with Laughlin's books! "The Acquittal" was a true page-turner that kept me engaged, and entertained, all the way to the end! I love Josie Harper and was particularly impressed with the portrayal of her bipolar mania. "The Acquittal" is a great read and has left me wanting lots more!

A Great read! There are Lots of twists and turns for our Hero!

I couldn't put it down - moved along nicely and gave me some insight into the difficulties of dealing with one's own mental illness.Loved the strong women characters.

A great story that starts slowly for the first couple of chapters then goes gangbusters until the last page. Totally enjoyable.

This story started of very interesting. Lauren Wade's girlfriend is murdered in their kitchen; her brains blown out. Lauren is charged with the crime, but is acquitted even though all the evidence is pointing to her. Josie Harper is an ex-cop turned PI is hired to find the real killer. Josie is bi-polar and taking meds and Lauren's parents were kidnapped by her brother and is forced to humiliate herself for his amusement in order to keep her parents alive. There are a lot of holes in this story but I was still on board until around chapter 30, then the book turned into a WTF!! Up to that point; I had rated this book at least 4 stars. The narrator wasn't bad, I've heard worst. But it wasn't the narrator but the author who decided to throw in all these unnecessary twist in turns that made no sense. And to top it off, THE MURDER WASN'T REALLY SOLVED! Sorry for the spoiler, but it just pissed me off so much that I couldn't help it. And since I had already let the genie out of the bottle, may as well go all in. It could have been the sick brother; or the girlfriend's girlfriend; or the girlfriend's girlfriend's jealous lover; or it could have been Lauren all long. And the icing on this very ugly cake is that after everything Lauren's brother had put her through, her parents fire her for not rescuing them fast enough and so Lauren kills herself and tries to take Josie with her. All this after the two have started to fall in love. AND THE MURDER STILL WASN'T SOLVED! There are so many better thrillers (if that's what this was suppose to be) out there.

This was more of a thriller than anything else. I cannot even imagine having my parents kidnapped by my brother and then doing what he tells me to or they die. Lauren is a very strong person but eventually comes to her breaking point when she not only saves her ungrateful parents but they fire her from the job she loves without so much as a thank you. Lauren's life is really sad and I'm actually surprised it took her that long to hold on before she snapped. Between having your lover killed and being accused of her murder to having a very psychotic brother who enjoys killing and maiming people to her parents getting kidnapped....it's too much for one person to handle.Josie has it rough too dealing with a bipolar disorder that hit the extremes and caused a scene at her job in front of the whole precinct. Now she's a PI who's dealing with her medication and trying to stick to her one alcohol a day rule. The author did a very good job describing and letting the audience know when Josie was in an episode, it was very clear and precise. In the end Josie got someone to spend her life with and can deal with her disorder, which I think is good.

I have read every story written by Ms. Laughlin and must state that I enjoyed everyone of them. I had a particular connection with her first story, “Sometimes Quickly”. I have read it twice and look forward to a third. Stating that, I must express my disappointment with "Acquittal". There were too many loose ends and unanswered questions, in my opinion, at the conclusion of this story. It was as though “fillers” where added at random and did not contribute to the story. Such as Joise’s dysfunctional parents. *Spoiler Alert* The two main characters are “Josie” and “Lauren”. The reader immediately bonds with “Lauren”. We feel sympathy and want justice for her. She was wronged by her partner and she was wrongly accused of her murder. She spends eight months in jail until her trial. Even though she was acquitted of the murder, she was still viewed as a murderess by the public and her acquaintances. To top off her already chaotic life, her parents are kidnapped and is made to perform, like a trained circus animal for her psychotic brother. “Josie” is the main character but I feel there was a lot of information missing about who she really was. We are not told anything about her past. It seemed like her life started eight months prior and then she became ill and lost her job as a Chicago Police Detective. She sees a therapist, starts her own business as a PI and gets hired to find out if Lauren really was innocent of her partner, Kelly’s, murder. My main peeve was with the ending and what happens to Lauren. I was rooting for Lauren from the beginning, as I am sure most readers were only to have the ending shatter our hopes. There really was no conclusion and no explanations to that conclusion! I invite the author to comment on my review and perhaps set me straight on my review. Perhaps I missed some important dialogue between the characters.

this book was a little, well, bizarre. Having said that it was also well written as it actually had me feeling anxiety, and tension while reading. Always the sign of a good book. Josie reminded me of some people from my past which made me both feel sympathy and a lack of patience with her. Lauren's relationship with her family was like nothing I had ever seen in a story before, incredibly unique. A plot twist at the end of the book literally made me gasp out loud. Overall, a good albeit somewhat odd read. Definitely a change from the norm. I would recommend if you want something completely different

A really good read. Kept me guessing right until the end which is good for the little grey cells. Easily on a par with Anne's earlier novels. Love her style of writing. Kept me up to the early hours as I found it hard to put down.

Good read