Michael Baron, The Mourning Sexton Review

“Michael Baron, The Mourning Sexton - David Hirsch was...”

Written on: 26/03/2005 by Harriet Klausner (18637 reviews written)

Michael Baron, The Mourning Sexton - David Hirsch was a managing partner in a prestigious St. Louis' legal firm, but cocaine and extramarital affairs resulted in David waking up in a dump in East St. Louis with a prostitute dead from an overdose sharing his bed. He was convicted for her death; his family cut all ties with him; his law license was revoked; and later he lost a major sexual harassment suit brought on by his female staffers. David spent seven years in prison reading Don Quixote, playing the harmonica, and rediscovering his Judaism.



Last year the Missouri Supreme Court issued David a provisional license to practice law under the supervision of Seymour "Pancho" Rosenbloom. David services bankruptcy clients while volunteering as the sexton at a declining synagogue where meeting the minimum minyan requirement of ten males is yeoman's work.



An Alzheimer's congregation member Mr. Shifrin wants David to obtain justice for his daughter, law clerk Judith, who died driving Judge Brendan McCormick in an SUV during a snowstorm; Mr. Shifrin blames the design of the SUV for her death. With the help of legal technician Dulcie Lorenz, Hirsch uncovers something more sinister than a "nuisance" death. He soon battles those who he once considered equals when he was at the top of the city's legal hierarchy.



THE MOURNING SEXTON is an exhilarating legal thriller starring a fully developed individual trying to obtain redemption for his previous transgressions when he abused his wealth and position. The support cast augments the deep look at the born again crusading David who reclaims the ethics he once scorned. Although the Shifrin case spins into a somewhat shaky reality of a Goliath turned David against his former Goliath peers, sub-genre fans will welcome this entertaining, character-driven entry.



Doubleday, Apr 2005, $23.95

ISBN: 0385513267



Harriet Klausner