• The Last Trial

  • McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers, Book 3
  • By: Robert Bailey
  • Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
  • Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,720 ratings)

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The Last Trial  By  cover art

The Last Trial

By: Robert Bailey
Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
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Publisher's summary

Former law professor Tom McMurtrie has brought killers to justice, and taken on some of the most infamous cases in Alabama’s history. Now he’s tackling his greatest challenge.

McMurtrie’s old nemesis, Jack Willistone, is found dead on the banks of the Black Warrior River. Willistone had his share of enemies, but all evidence points to a forgotten, broken woman as the killer. At the urging of the suspect’s desperate fourteen-year-old daughter, McMurtrie agrees to take the case.

But as seasoned as McMurtrie is, even he isn’t prepared for how personal and dangerous this case is going to get. With the trial drawing near and his sharp young partner, Rick Drake, dealing with a family tragedy, he recruits his best friend, Bocephus Haynes, to help investigate.

As key witnesses disappear and old demons return, time becomes McMurtrie’s most fearsome opponent. Soon loyalties will be tested and the boundaries of law will be broken as McMurtrie fights to save his legacy—and his client’s life—before the truth is buried forever in the muddy waters of the Black Warrior.

©2018 Robert Bailey (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

What listeners say about The Last Trial

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely one of the best legal thrillers!!

This is a wonderful legal series. If you have not listened to the first two books I would suggest listening to them first. This book is a follow up to a previous book in this series.
The protagonist is Tom McMurtrie. He's a former attorney, former law professor who taught most of the lawyers he comes up against since coming out of retirement. He's opened a law office with another former student.
When a woman in town is charged with murder her 14 year old daughter enlists McMurtrie's help. McMurtrie had exposed her perjuries during a trial in one of the previous books Following that trial she lost everything. Now she's accused of the murder of the man convicted in that same trial.
When McMurtrie's partner's father has a fatal accident another prisoner on death row takes credit. He tells McMurtrie that he arranged it from inside. It doesn't end there. The prisoner tells him that he will kill him and everyone important to him. McMurtrie believes he might be capable, especially when others involved start dying.
This is a very well written book. The characters are so well fleshed out. The story is told with very vivid descriptions. It is believable, realistic and fast paced with the tension mounting as the story progresses.
If you have kindle unlimited this book is $1.99!!!!
Eric Dove is the perfect narrator for this book. His southern drawl is great.
This book has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATIONS!!
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37 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Third McMurtrie & Drake legal thriller

I love legal thrillers especially those with lots of courtroom action. Alabama attorney Robert Bailey delivers once again with The Last Trail which is Book 3 in his McMurtrie & Drake series. Like the first two novels in the series, The Professor and Between Black and White, The Last Trial is outstanding. The protagonist is retired University of Alabama law professor Tom McMurtrie who once again agrees to represent a person charged with murder in a near hopeless case. McMurtrie is suffering from end stage lung cancer and has only months to live. Bocephus Haynes, a former McMurtrie law student, is back from Between Black and White as an investigator since his law license has not been restored. Tom's law partner Rick Drake also plays a significant role. Eric G. Dove again narrates superbly.

The 4th novel in the McMurtrie and Drake series will be titled The Reckoning is scheduled for release on April 23, 2019. I suspect Bo Haynes will likely become series protagonist.

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11 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Legal Thriller

This is an interesting and suspenseful story, with enough clues to solve the mystery, but just enough misdirection to make the ending a surprise. The characters are well developed, and it made me hope that McMurtrie will still be around to attend one more "last trial".

One thing I noticed is that the story reads like an extended "product placement" ad. No one gets into their car, they get into their Toyota Camry or their Tundra truck. Or they wear an UnderArmor t shirt. Or Nike tennis shoes. Well ok, eventually one "product" becomes important in solving the who-done-it. Maybe it has to be done that way to allow the clues to work. Nevertheless, it caught my attention while listening the novel. A bit sad but still a really good listen.

Eric G. Dove was wonderful with the delivery of the story

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8 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Absorbing

I was impressed with Bailey’s first book “The Professor”. It hooked me and I have become a fan. The books are designed to standalone, but I think the reader gains more from reading the books in order.

The protagonist of the three books is Professor Thomas Jackson McMurtrie. Tom is ill but his brilliant legal mind and skills are intact as is his moral values. Bailey created an intense and exciting plot that twists and turns. His characters are most interesting and realistic. Bailey moves the story along via his characters and dialog. The author is a good storyteller and his descriptions are so realistic that I felt I was part of the scene. Yummy, green fried tomatoes; you will have to read the story to find out what I am referring to. Some people might not like all the description of the scenes, but I do. It helps me build a picture in my mind. I do hope Bailey will continue to write more exciting stories.

The book is just over eleven hours. Eric G. Dove does a good job narrating the book. Dove is a full-time audiobook narrator and the winner of multiple Earphone Awards.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

McMurtry is the very best good guy.

Count me among the many fans of Mr. Bailey, Mr. Dove and of Professor Tom McMurtry. I have enjoyed this series very much. I acknowledge the objections of the readers who do not feel that the legal points are precisely accurate, but this is not a documentary. It's fiction, and great entertainment. Picking nits about fine legal points misses the adventure. The depictions of the South are vivid, sometimes scary (Bully Calhoun is great fun to hate) and the plot twists and turns like windy roads through rural Tennessee and Alabama. I listen to hours and hours of these books and still am happy with how they keep me reading. I won't go too deeply into the plot, as other reviewers have done this, and it is complicated. To be brief, the Professor is defending Wilma Newton, a broken-down woman whose life he feels he partially ruined in the previous trial. He is slightly guilt-tripped by Wilma's fourteen-year-old daughter. The evidence against Wilma seems overwhelming, at least according to the DA and police investigator, both of whom are former students and friends of the Professor. An increasingly large role in the proceedings is taken by Bocephus Haynes, an imposing, bald, black man who is one of the finest lawyers in Alabama. Everyone idolizes the great Bear Bryant, who famously said that winning isn't everything: it's the only thing.
Bully Calhoun's hit person is a Filipino woman who is utterly stealthy and coldly bloodthirsty, happy to kill anyone who displeases her boss. Calhoun is truly evil, the king of a meth-producing and -selling empire. He has amassed and lost fortunes. He is now financially broke and desperate. He is determined to kill everyone who may be a threat to his stealing the $3 million life insurance policy that is payable on the death of Jack Willistone. This is the death with which Wilma is charged, and with the death penalty. All the way through we know that she is innocent, and that the Professor and his friends will exonerate her, but in spite of this, the suspense is terrific. This technique is used in many legal thrillers, and I admire the authors who are capable of using it in this way. Kind of like several examples from the world of sports: everyone watching knew that Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, and their like were going to do what they did at the end of the game, and yet no one could stop them. Amazing feats.
So I recommend this audiobook to you highly. I understand that Bo Haynes will inherit the mantle from the Professor next spring. I look forward to that: Bo is likewise a truly fine good guy. We know that he will ultimately prevail, as they say, but we love listening to him do it.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome!

This series is really good. I highly recommend if you like legal thriller/suspense. I didn't want it to end because I feel like I know the characters. This author is very good at does describing everything so you feel you are right there. Please keep writing!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good conclusion to the trilogy.

I believe this concludes the McMurtrie and Drake series. I devoured the audiobook over a weekend. It is very good, but somehow the story did not strike me as stellar as the previous two. Although a very good mystery, I found that the telling stalled sometimes and was repititous at other times. There was a final twist near the very end that, despite my hunches, came as a surprise to me.

It is less of a legal mystery than the previous two, although the law plays a major role behind the events that occur. Although it is possible to read these out of order, I strongly recommend reading the series in sequence as each previous one solves a mystery but leaves other parts unresolved.

I suspect this is the last we'll hear from the professor, but, as things have evolved, I suspect we might hear more about his friend and former law student, Bocephus Haynes. Like McMurtrie, he played for and revered coach Bear Bryant while an undergrad at Alabama. (Bocephus was a primary character in the previous two books as well.) In fact, the series ought to be renamed McMurtrie and Haynes Mysteries.

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Sickeningly stereotypical

Terrible book. Full of tired, old, cliché stereotypes. Very unimaginative. Lacking in creativity Not an enjoyable read in the least.

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Hopefully the Last Book too.

Book 3 in the series ended up being better than book 2 but it was still very light on the legal portion. I understand in suspense fiction it is nice to have hit-men but in legal thrillers isn't the law enough. I suppose if you are trying to write a mystery, you need to have enough suspects that there is a little question as to the whodunit. However, the hit-men keep coming out of the woodwork in this series. The first book was definitely the best but these were fair diversions for a day or two.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent legal thriller

This was a good book which was well narrated. It was not easily fired how it wondering end, and the plot twists were actually surprising.

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