In "The Big Exit", David Carnoy's second novel http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Exit-David-Carnoy/dp/1590205154, Richie Forman was once a promising marketing executive, when his career and life were derailed because he and his partner Mark MacGregor got into a car accident in which a woman was killed and another severely injured. Forman, who was drunk at the time, claimed that he was not driving, even though he was found in the driver's seat. He said that MacGregor was driving. Unconvinced, the jury sent him to jail.
Now he is out of prison and struggling to put the pieces of his life together. He has a gig singing Sinatra songs at a local club, and convinces the Exoneration Foundation, a legal firm headed by Marty Lowenstein, which specializes in using DNA evidence to free people wrongly convicted, to hire him.
Carolyn DuPuy, the prosecutor, who put him in jail, has just broken up for the second time from her long term doctor boyfriend, and is trying to get pregnant with donated sperm. Now a private lawyer she has has been put on leave by her law firm because she has been hitting the bottle too much.
Beth Hill, Richie Forman's fiancee at the time of the accident ultimately married MacGregor while Forman is in jail. She lives with him in a palatial home. MacGregor has done well for himself selling several internet companies.
All of their lives once again collide, when Hill finds MacGregor's mangled dead body in the garage of their house. Hill calls and hires Dupuy when the police arrive fearing that they will suspect her of killing MacGregor. All was not rosy in her relationship with MacGregor. MacGregor was suspicious of his beautiful wife, and had her car and phone bugged. Plus, she spent some time with Forman the day of the murder.
Meanwhile Detective Hank Madden, who arrested Forman for the car accident, immediately suspects that Forman was involved, a suspicion which is buttressed when Forman's prints appear at the MacGregor house and a piece of evidence belonging to Forman is found near MacGregor's body.
Who killed Mark MacGregor. Was it Richie Forman, who still claims that his former partner framed him for murder? Was it Beth Hill, who was in a love hate relationship with MacGregor? Why are two big guys following Forman?
As Madden tracks down leads in the case, Marty Lowenstein, arrives to represent Forman. Lowenstein's specialty is DNA, but his young assistant Ashley has convinced him that Forman's injuries from the original car accident are inconsistent with the injuries that a driver would receive. If Forman was framed by MacGregor once, maybe he is not guilty of this murder.
Carnoy's fast moving story and well drawn characters make this a good afternoon read for mystery fans. Its a real page turner and the story takes enough twists and turns to keep you guessing to the very end.
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