The Breakfast Jury

by Kenneth B Humphrey

In 1999, a jury of misfits is thrust into the case of the century. A man stands accused of poisoning his wife with antifreeze and they are charged to deliver judgment. During the longest trial in state history, they unwittingly form bonds stronger than anyone could have predicted and come to realize their differences are not so great after all.One year later, a reunion turns deadly when they fall victim to poison. Is this targeted retribution for their verdict or simply forewarning of something darker to come?Enter disgraced detective Aramis "Arch" White and his penchant for finding trouble. As he digs into the shadows, skepticism plays a third wheel, blurring the line between duty and vendetta. Can he unmask the puppeteer orchestrating this retribution tango? The clock is ticking and as time winds down he finds that vengeance possesses a wicked sense of irony.

Paperback

Published December 28, 2023

Reviews

[Cayce Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Breakfast Jury by Kenneth B. Humphrey is several books in one: a courtroom dramedy, an homage to The Breakfast Club, a fictionalized true crime account, and a redemption story. Humphrey manages to pull off all four of these narratives in 483 fast-paced pages, an impressive feat.

Ex-detective Aramis "Arch" White, who also features in Humphrey’s Killing Arc trilogy, is emerging from the rubble of his personal and professional lives when he gets roped into investigating a mysterious crime: a healthy young woman is hospitalized after a night out with friends. As Arch soon discovers, those friends were all part of a jury who served on the longest trial in Wisconsin history. The novel’s fictional trial was based on Humphrey’s real-life experience with jury duty, and the authenticity and expertise shine through.

The story's dual timelines—the jury trial itself and Arch’s investigation of an incident that occurs when the jurors reunite one year later—play off each other beautifully, one enhancing the other. Everything from the trial timeline feeds back into the Arch chapters, making the entwined narrative feel seamless. The jurors are strangers with disparate backgrounds and interests, thrown closely together for weeks, which mirrors The Breakfast Club film in a clever way. And even though he wasn’t part of the jury, Arch is the misfit seeking redemption at the center of it all.

One of the most engaging aspects of this novel is the way Humphrey takes the day-to-day mechanics of the courtroom and brings them to life through entertaining jurors and dramatic testimony. Arch’s obsession with proving himself provides an important—and more desperate—counterpoint to the amusing jury interactions. Readers who enjoy courtroom dramas, an entertaining cast of characters, embattled detectives, dual-timeline crime novels, and fast-paced mysteries will enjoy The Breakfast Jury as much as I did.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fast-paced who-dun-it set in turn-of-the-century (twenty-first, that is) Wisconsin, bouncing between a criminal murder trial and some of the aftermath a year later. Humphrey’s main protagonist, Arch White, returns in a quest to redeem himself after his police career bottoms out. A friendly referral that was supposed to be a pat on the back turns into a serious case when Arch untangles threads that lead back to a jury of the murder trial, and apparently the members of the jury are now targets of a copycat killer.
Peeling back the evidence through flashes between the trial in 1999 and the case Arch is investigating, the reader slowly sees the suspects, means, and motive coming into play. The action was twisty enough that, although I followed the trail, I’d read the story again because there were so many moving parts and people that I’d see something new each time I read it. Skillfully played with a wide cast, detailed and nuanced in all the right placed, The Breakfast Jury is a fun read. The title is a riff on the high school comedy which is mentioned frequently. Those who enjoy detective stories with some humor and parallel action between near past and present will enjoy The Breakfast Jury. I’m also checking out Arch White in the previous series.

[Christine DeSmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired by true events and the author’s own lengthy jury duty, this novel bounces between a 1999 fictional jury and a year later with the supposed murder of one of the jury members, which puts down-and-out private investigator Aramis “Arch” White hot on the trail. The murder trial and jury room are handled with a great amount of details that might make any reader believe they are actually going through it for real. We come to feel for Arch and root for his need to impress the local law enforcement after a falling-out not long ago. The author also does an effective job of bringing us into the southeast Wisconsin setting of Kenosha and Racine. For readers who love courtroom dramas or who want to feel as if they are part of one “for real,” this novel is a good choice.

[Ginny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on a trial that took place in my hometown, I found the local references interesting but not always accurate. This was an easy read and it was interesting to have a mystery woven into the aforementioned trial. However some of editing left something to be desired - for example “recorded voicemails” aren’t recordings of phone conversations - this was a bit of a stretch in tying up the whodunit at the end of the novel.

[Tracey Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on a true story, this courtroom drama/ murder mystery seeped into my blood. Humphrey skillfully wove two stories together, linking them by the facts of a real-life murder case. And Arch White won my heart as the broken detective trying to save his career and solve a crime. I highly recommend this book.