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False Witness
After a beautiful television star is brutally raped and beaten in her apartment, the Bureau Chief of the District Attorney's office, an ambitious young woman, persistently attempts to get a conviction
288 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1981
18 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy Uhnak
58 books17 followersUhnak's first book was autobiographical Policewoman (1964), written and published while she was still a New York Transit Police detective.
Her debut fiction, The Bait (1968), received a 1969 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel (in a tie with E. Richard Johnson's Silver Street). ,The Bait was also made into a 1973 made-for-television film of the same title. It was followed by The Witness and The Ledger, which was adapted for the TV-movie and series Get Christie Love! starring Teresa Graves. All three novels featured Christie Opara, an NYPD detective assigned to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, where Uhnak herself was assigned for many years.
Later works included Law and Order, which was made into a TV-movie starring Darren McGavin and The Investigation, which was adapted into a TV-movie, "Kojak: The Price of Justice", with Telly Savalas.
In her later years she suffered from depression. She committed suicide by a self-administered drug overdoes in 2006. She was seventy-six at the time of her death.
Her debut fiction, The Bait (1968), received a 1969 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel (in a tie with E. Richard Johnson's Silver Street). ,The Bait was also made into a 1973 made-for-television film of the same title. It was followed by The Witness and The Ledger, which was adapted for the TV-movie and series Get Christie Love! starring Teresa Graves. All three novels featured Christie Opara, an NYPD detective assigned to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, where Uhnak herself was assigned for many years.
Later works included Law and Order, which was made into a TV-movie starring Darren McGavin and The Investigation, which was adapted into a TV-movie, "Kojak: The Price of Justice", with Telly Savalas.
In her later years she suffered from depression. She committed suicide by a self-administered drug overdoes in 2006. She was seventy-six at the time of her death.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 7, 2020
i read this not long after it came out, some time in the 70s i'm guessing. loved it, even though this isn't really my kind of book. the tough protagonist is forerunner to kinsey millhone and eve dallas and other no-bullshit female cops, back before they became A Thing. some of the archaic details couldn't fly today (apparently blood typing wasn't widely available when this was written or the mystery would have been over at the start) but the characters have kept this on my shelf for decades.
and it's been a few decades since i read it. i'm very curious to see how it's held up for me over time.
wow, i'm so glad i didn't pitch this into the donate pile. i was pretty sure it would not stand the test of time, and there are archaic elements to the actual crime bits (not blood typing as i had incorrectly remembered, but DNA evidence). but the writing is so tight and so punchy and so perfectly paced, it just grabs you by the throat and drags you along. it's in the early days of women working in what was then a men's world, so while some of lynn's frustrations and battles will seem dated to a modern woman, i remember these days perfectly. and a super-satisfying-not-in-a-nice-neat-bow ending.
not only am i glad i didn't donate it before giving it a re-read, i'm keeping this baby. i think i've got one more re-read in this lifetime.
and it's been a few decades since i read it. i'm very curious to see how it's held up for me over time.
wow, i'm so glad i didn't pitch this into the donate pile. i was pretty sure it would not stand the test of time, and there are archaic elements to the actual crime bits (not blood typing as i had incorrectly remembered, but DNA evidence). but the writing is so tight and so punchy and so perfectly paced, it just grabs you by the throat and drags you along. it's in the early days of women working in what was then a men's world, so while some of lynn's frustrations and battles will seem dated to a modern woman, i remember these days perfectly. and a super-satisfying-not-in-a-nice-neat-bow ending.
not only am i glad i didn't donate it before giving it a re-read, i'm keeping this baby. i think i've got one more re-read in this lifetime.
December 19, 2011
A beautiful talk show host is brutally attacked and injured in her apartment. This book is about the shocking accusation of who did it. I enjoyed the twists and turns of a very interesting plot and that justice was meted out in an unusual way. I give this book an A+!
March 9, 2017
great legal procedural with a surprise ending I did not see coming
August 9, 2025
This is a police procedural, a compelling story written by a well-recognized author of crime fiction. It covers a gruesome crime and has a shocking unexpected ending. Although an older novel first published in 1969, it has stood the test of time, but given its age, is dated by two factors: the lack of forensic technology now available to fight crime, and its description of the obstacles strong women experienced as they tried to advance their careers.
Sanderalee Dawson is a beautiful, black, talk show host who was brutally attacked in her apartment. She was raped, so badly beaten she was unrecognizable and one of her hands was cut off. She survives the brutal savagery, recovers from a coma and identifies her attacker, a man so unlikely to have committed the crime, that it headlines the news.
The story is told through the eyes of D.A. Bureau Chief Lynne Jacobi, an ambitious, tough and brilliant young lawyer who desperately wants the job of D.A. and hopes she can get it if she gets a conviction for this crime.
Chief Investigator Bobby Jones is not certain they have the right man but holds back, unwilling to put his career and his affair with Lynne at risk.
The plot is well paced, there are lots of twists and turns, and the author’s in-depth knowledge of cops, lawyers and the justice system is evident throughout the story.
Despite its age, this is still a very good read.
Sanderalee Dawson is a beautiful, black, talk show host who was brutally attacked in her apartment. She was raped, so badly beaten she was unrecognizable and one of her hands was cut off. She survives the brutal savagery, recovers from a coma and identifies her attacker, a man so unlikely to have committed the crime, that it headlines the news.
The story is told through the eyes of D.A. Bureau Chief Lynne Jacobi, an ambitious, tough and brilliant young lawyer who desperately wants the job of D.A. and hopes she can get it if she gets a conviction for this crime.
Chief Investigator Bobby Jones is not certain they have the right man but holds back, unwilling to put his career and his affair with Lynne at risk.
The plot is well paced, there are lots of twists and turns, and the author’s in-depth knowledge of cops, lawyers and the justice system is evident throughout the story.
Despite its age, this is still a very good read.
June 10, 2022
Una modelo y periodista negra, que recientemente ha simpatizado con la causa palestina, es encontrada violada, mutilada y casi muerta en su apartamento. Cuando sale del coma señala inequívocamente al agresor: un médico de alto nivel, judío para más señas, que además fue quien le operó tras el ataque. ¿Es una identificación correcta o es que la víctima está confundida? ¿Tiene el crimen una motivación política?
El libro no vale ni para calzar mesas. Se lleva dos estrellas en vez de una porque se lee rápido, pero los personajes son caricaturescos (todos los negros son malvados o tontos) y la protagonista en especial es una facha insoportable. Qué vamos a esperar de un libro escrito por una poli, supongo. El giro final no tiene ni pies ni cabeza y el contragiro final, aunque se ve venir de lejos, en realidad tampoco lo tiene. En fin.
El libro no vale ni para calzar mesas. Se lleva dos estrellas en vez de una porque se lee rápido, pero los personajes son caricaturescos (todos los negros son malvados o tontos) y la protagonista en especial es una facha insoportable. Qué vamos a esperar de un libro escrito por una poli, supongo. El giro final no tiene ni pies ni cabeza y el contragiro final, aunque se ve venir de lejos, en realidad tampoco lo tiene. En fin.
December 20, 2018
Fairly basic detective stuff. I’m a sucker for the genre, so it’s not hard to please me with a good murder mystery. This was not good. Character development was very heavy handed and obvious. The plot relied on incredible coincidences and boisterous, ridiculous interpersonal relationships. The only reason I didn’t give it one star is because I actually finished it. I have gotten rid of numerous books lately that couldn’t hold my interest to the end as this one did, so I respect it for that. The conclusion, as with the rest of the novel was ridiculous in its attempt to surprise and leave some open ended suspense. It did neither particularly well.
September 12, 2023
First Uhnak novel I have ever read. I had the book for years, waiting for retirement to read. It was indeed very good, I enjoyed the plot and the characters Would recommend it to any one who likes mysteries...
June 27, 2024
Started it, but read the first 50 pages and just couldn’t get into it so I’m putting it down and picking up a different book.
September 19, 2022
Goodread but pretty predictable
February 26, 2013
A compelling read. The first frantic violent pages introduce us to the horrific assault that leaves celebrity Sanderlee Dawson in a coma fighting for her life. Uhnak spares none of our senses as she graphically describes the location and the horrific events which set her protagonist Bureau Chief Lynne Jacobi of the DA’s office on a roller coaster ride of manipulations, political game playing, deceit, lies and frustration. “The discordant, unanticipated color, dominating all the overturned furniture and tossed about lamps, was the darkening brownish-red thickly shimmering blood. Sanderlee’s life force was sprayed and splattered and pooled all over the room...There would be no cleaning up. There would have to be a complete cleaning out.”(p11) “All that blood, Jim? My God, what the hell did he do to her? .....More blood than I have ever seen in one place before. And I have been on the scene of some very gory homicides. There was a heavy meat clever on the floor, professional type. Bloody.....” (ps13-14)
Jacobi investigates the attack with a “prosecutor’s point of view: that anyone, at all, can do anything, at all: is capable of committing the most unimaginable acts, given a set of circumstances – emotional, physical, personal, mental, environment, whatever.” (p118-119) False Witness is a procedural crime novel with a strong feminist protagonist who is battling crime and all the isms of the time –at nearly forty years old she has been “doing battle for many, many years without too many compromises along the way. My young female associates haven’t been in the war long enough to learn that there are necessary times of truce.” (p9-10)
I read this compelling novel with a hunger that could only be satisfied when the last page was turned. Except it wasn’t satisfied, I felt the frustration and the weariness and the bitterness that Jacobi was wearing, like a heavy cloak and I needed more. An excellent read. I will most certainly be seeking other books by this author
Jacobi investigates the attack with a “prosecutor’s point of view: that anyone, at all, can do anything, at all: is capable of committing the most unimaginable acts, given a set of circumstances – emotional, physical, personal, mental, environment, whatever.” (p118-119) False Witness is a procedural crime novel with a strong feminist protagonist who is battling crime and all the isms of the time –at nearly forty years old she has been “doing battle for many, many years without too many compromises along the way. My young female associates haven’t been in the war long enough to learn that there are necessary times of truce.” (p9-10)
I read this compelling novel with a hunger that could only be satisfied when the last page was turned. Except it wasn’t satisfied, I felt the frustration and the weariness and the bitterness that Jacobi was wearing, like a heavy cloak and I needed more. An excellent read. I will most certainly be seeking other books by this author
January 8, 2013
My Thoughts
The main story was actually very good and pretty fast paced. For me, there was a level of excitement building towards the finish.
I do think this book reflects the time when it was written and I am taking that into consideration when giving my rating. The behavior of the main character would make more sense for the 1980‘s when the book was first released than 2012. I will say that how she behaved in the final chapters really pissed me off. I kept thinking of all these different endings based on a female of today (or at least how I would have behaved).
Thank you to Open Road and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.
Rerelease date: January 1, 2012.
The main story was actually very good and pretty fast paced. For me, there was a level of excitement building towards the finish.
I do think this book reflects the time when it was written and I am taking that into consideration when giving my rating. The behavior of the main character would make more sense for the 1980‘s when the book was first released than 2012. I will say that how she behaved in the final chapters really pissed me off. I kept thinking of all these different endings based on a female of today (or at least how I would have behaved).
Thank you to Open Road and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.
Rerelease date: January 1, 2012.
April 15, 2013
This book by Dorothy Uhnak was a very good read. It was enjoyable because you did not know exactly where things were going. The characters were believable and some were characters you would like to know. The plot was very good, don't know where these ideas come from, but his plot was good one. Enjoyed it.
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" and "Wesley's Wars"
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" and "Wesley's Wars"
July 4, 2014
6/10
I was expecting some twists at the end, but not the ones that I got. The story moved right along but even with the backgrounds of the characters filled in, I didn't understand some of their actions and motivations.
I was expecting some twists at the end, but not the ones that I got. The story moved right along but even with the backgrounds of the characters filled in, I didn't understand some of their actions and motivations.
October 7, 2019
Investigation of the brutal attack of a tv personality
Although written nearly forty years ago, this depiction of a female in charge of a brutal crime could have been written today. The challenges faced by the investigator are quite similar to those women in charge face today.
Although written nearly forty years ago, this depiction of a female in charge of a brutal crime could have been written today. The challenges faced by the investigator are quite similar to those women in charge face today.
April 2, 2008
Another story that involves the characters you met in The Bait, a good sequel to it. Great story!!!
January 31, 2009
Wow, this was a thriller and a quick read. Alright on an icy night!
December 9, 2010
Very much a book of its time (the late 70s/early 80s); it felt dated to me.
May 13, 2013
A couple of slow parts during some background information, but overall this was a good read.
May 5, 2015
Fast paced - page turner!!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews