Well, I have finally finished "The Pelican Brief" and it was so good. There will be spoilers in this review, so if you don't want to know...then stop now. The first thing that popped into my mind was how much was cut from the book in the movie.  It almost seemed like a completely different story. The main character, Darby Shaw, was much sassier in the book which made her not as likable. I also was surprised that Darby and Grantham ended up in a relationship at the end, which was a nice twist, just unexpected since I was used to the movie ending. Another thing that really struck me was the character Mattice. In the movie, he's just a name that has power, money, and connections. In the book, he's an actual character and you get to know him a bit which I liked very much. It made him seem real and much more of a threat. 

It was amazing to me just how I would read the book and then get to a portion that was "new", and it added so much more to the story or explained better why something else happened. For example, all the different assassin attempts in the book really explained or emphasized the danger element and made Darby's paranoia more real. Another example is how Darby really explains the background or her research that led to the pelican brief. I was always curious about how she got to her conclusion, and while some of that is mentioned in the movie, in the book she goes into the background, and it really becomes clear how crooked and deceptive the pelican plot was. 

I guess it's true what they say...the book is always better. There are no time restrains on a novel and no cutting or editing for audience reasons. It's just you and a good story, read at your pace, with only the interruptions that you allow. So, if you're looking for a good mystery, then check out "The Pelican Brief" a classic mystery written by John Grisham at his finest. And if you've already read it and seen the movie, then let me know what you think. Which was better the book or the movie?
Until next time.... 

For this blog post I wanted to dig into my notes for this first edition of police files...and the word is murder, to be more specific murder methods. Since murder is what I deal with in my books, I thought that I would start off with discussing the different kinds of murder methods. When I use the term murder method, I am referring to the different kinds of methods of murder. There are six murder methods and three of them are more well-known than the other three, but all of these methods are deadly and usually end up with dead body on scene. 
The first three methods are more well-known and usually end up in TV shows and books all the time. They are crime of passion, murder for hire, and poisoning. What detective show would be complete without a murder for hire mystery or the undetectable poison. These three murder methods, however, have something in common, a "personal touch" if you will. These three murder methods will, most likely, be committed by someone who knows the victim. Whereas murder for hire is a little more "hands off", they all still target people they know and have a personal reason for getting rid of the intended victim. They are also all motivated by intense feelings of anger, jealousy, and even revenge.
The last three murder methods don't get as much TV time but are still just as deadly. They are staged accidents, irresistible impulse, and murder under duress. These last three are not as personal because the victims of these murder methods have a greater chance of being people not necessarily personally connected to the offender. Staged accidents are when the crime scene has been altered to mislead detectives. Irresistible impulse usually refers to the offender having some sort of mental defect and murder under duress is when a person kills someone under a life-threatening situation themselves. So, that is my first edition of police files: murder methods. 
Until next time...