The Trial of Callista Blake

By: Edgar Pangborn

Narrated by: Jack Brown

As mostly science fiction writer Edgar Pangborn switches to the detective genre; we get this successful and suspenseful novel of a murder case against our female protagonist Callista Blake... Meticulously detailed, the story flashes back and forth in time, framed in the classical style of the "courtroom drama" we have come to know so well by now.©2018 Audioliterature (P)2018 Audioliterature

Engaging

I was familiar with Edgar Pangborn (1909-1976) as a writer of science fiction. I was curious to see how he did when he changed genre. This is the story of 19-year-old Callista Blake who is on trial for murder.

The book is well written. The story is told via four people: the judge, the defense attorney, a character witness and from Callista. Some of the issues discussed in the book are capital punishment and how society relates to those people who skirt the edge of its norms. This book was originally published in 1961. I found it interesting, but it really did not grab me.

The book is almost thirteen hours. Jack Brown does a good job narrating the book.