What do you think?
Rate this book
Lucinda Hayes #1
Render Up the Body
Disillusioned sex-crimes prosecutor Cinda Hayes abandons the D.A.'s office to run a rape crisis center, only to be torn between her roles as a women's advocate and death penalty opponent as she is drawn into the case of a death-row inmate convicted of the rape and murder of his girlfriend
- GenresMysteryMystery Thriller
432 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1997
2 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Marianne Wesson
9 books7 followersMarianne Wesson (known to friends as Mimi) grew up in Dallas, Texas, graduated from Vassar College and the University of Texas Law School, and began teaching at the University of Colorado Law School in 1976. She lives on a ranch in Larimer County, Colorado, with her husband Ben Herr, ten llamas, various cats and dogs, and visiting elk, coyotes, and bears.
As a scholar, Mimi is best known for her contributions to the debate about pornography in feminism and law; her work on the subject has been published in law reviews as well as in more popular publications such as The Women’s Review of Books. Pornography and its relationship to free speech and to our troubled culture is the subject of her newest book, Chilling Effect. She has published many academic articles over the years, as well as a treatise about the Colorado Criminal Code called Crimes and Defenses in Colorado (which she believes nobody has ever actually read from cover to cover). Her principal teaching interests are criminal law, evidence, trial practice, and law and literature. Mimi's teaching has been honored with the Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Colorado three times; she has also been named a President's Teaching Scholar, the University's highest form of recognition for teaching excellence. She holds the Wolf-Nichol Fellowship at the Law School, a position set aside to honor teaching achievement. She also served as Interim Dean of the Law School in 1995-96, an experience that persuaded her once and for all that academic administration is not her calling.
Mimi is an experienced trial lawyer as well. In 1980, after four years of teaching, she took a leave of absence to serve for two years as a federal prosecutor in the Office of the United States Attorney in Denver. During those years she tried many federal criminal cases, including kidnapping, firearms and explosives cases, extortion, and white collar crimes. After she returned to teaching in 1982, she continued to take on occasional trial work to keep her skills from growing rusty and because nothing else has the thrill of the courtroom. In the mid-1980s she co-represented the plaintiff in Simmons v. Simmons, the first case in Colorado (and one of the first in the country) to recognize that a woman has a right to sue her former husband for abusive injuries he inflicted on her during their marriage. In 1991, Mimi was appointed by the California Supreme Court to represent a death row inmate, Jerry Grant Frye. His case is now in federal habeas corpus proceedings.
The experience of representing Jerry inspired Mimi to write her first novel, Render Up the Body, about a former prosecutor and rape victims' advocate who is appointed to represent a death row inmate. Render Up the Body is dedicated to Jerry Frye. It was published by HarperCollins in North America, Headline Press in the U.K., Goldmann Publishers in Germany, Editions Stock in France, and for other translations into Norweigan, Dutch, Portuguese, Hebrew, and Latvian. It appeared in the U.S. in January of 1998, where it was also a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and a finalist for the Colorado Book Award for fiction.
Her second novel, A Suggestion of Death, was released in 1999 in the U.K., and February 2000 in the US, with various translations published in 2000 and 2001.
Chilling Effect, the third novel in the series, was published in September 2004 by the University Press of Colorado. All three novels feature protagonist Lucinda Hayes, who practices law in Boulder, Colorado.
You may have seen or heard Mimi on National Public Radio, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, or Court TV, with her observations and analysis of the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Lynn Nichols, the Columbine shootings, the JonBenet Ramsey case, and other legal matters. She provides regular commentary to NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday.
As a scholar, Mimi is best known for her contributions to the debate about pornography in feminism and law; her work on the subject has been published in law reviews as well as in more popular publications such as The Women’s Review of Books. Pornography and its relationship to free speech and to our troubled culture is the subject of her newest book, Chilling Effect. She has published many academic articles over the years, as well as a treatise about the Colorado Criminal Code called Crimes and Defenses in Colorado (which she believes nobody has ever actually read from cover to cover). Her principal teaching interests are criminal law, evidence, trial practice, and law and literature. Mimi's teaching has been honored with the Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Colorado three times; she has also been named a President's Teaching Scholar, the University's highest form of recognition for teaching excellence. She holds the Wolf-Nichol Fellowship at the Law School, a position set aside to honor teaching achievement. She also served as Interim Dean of the Law School in 1995-96, an experience that persuaded her once and for all that academic administration is not her calling.
Mimi is an experienced trial lawyer as well. In 1980, after four years of teaching, she took a leave of absence to serve for two years as a federal prosecutor in the Office of the United States Attorney in Denver. During those years she tried many federal criminal cases, including kidnapping, firearms and explosives cases, extortion, and white collar crimes. After she returned to teaching in 1982, she continued to take on occasional trial work to keep her skills from growing rusty and because nothing else has the thrill of the courtroom. In the mid-1980s she co-represented the plaintiff in Simmons v. Simmons, the first case in Colorado (and one of the first in the country) to recognize that a woman has a right to sue her former husband for abusive injuries he inflicted on her during their marriage. In 1991, Mimi was appointed by the California Supreme Court to represent a death row inmate, Jerry Grant Frye. His case is now in federal habeas corpus proceedings.
The experience of representing Jerry inspired Mimi to write her first novel, Render Up the Body, about a former prosecutor and rape victims' advocate who is appointed to represent a death row inmate. Render Up the Body is dedicated to Jerry Frye. It was published by HarperCollins in North America, Headline Press in the U.K., Goldmann Publishers in Germany, Editions Stock in France, and for other translations into Norweigan, Dutch, Portuguese, Hebrew, and Latvian. It appeared in the U.S. in January of 1998, where it was also a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and a finalist for the Colorado Book Award for fiction.
Her second novel, A Suggestion of Death, was released in 1999 in the U.K., and February 2000 in the US, with various translations published in 2000 and 2001.
Chilling Effect, the third novel in the series, was published in September 2004 by the University Press of Colorado. All three novels feature protagonist Lucinda Hayes, who practices law in Boulder, Colorado.
You may have seen or heard Mimi on National Public Radio, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, or Court TV, with her observations and analysis of the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Lynn Nichols, the Columbine shootings, the JonBenet Ramsey case, and other legal matters. She provides regular commentary to NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 28, 2018
"Okay, then let's talk about your case. I've read some of the record--not all of it, it's forty-six volumes and I just got it last week. I did read the jury selection and the pretrial hearings pretty carefully because those are likely places to find errors, mistaken rulings. I have some ideas of my own about what the most promising arguments on appeal are, but I'd be interested in knowing what you think. I mean, you were there and I wasn't. In your opinion what were the biggest mistakes or worst oversights at your trial or in your representation?"
"The worst mistake was I'm not guilty but the jury thought I was. That's the only mistake I noticed, but I thought it was a pretty big one."
~~Flagstaff Mountain, just outside Boulder.
Meet Cinda Hayes--resident of Boulder, Colorado. She's decided to resign from her position as chief sex-crimes prosecutor for the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, and pursue her passion instead. She takes a position as director of the Boulder County Rape Crisis Center. Her law expertise at the center is needed, as men accused of rape begin to sue the victims for defamation of character, even when those men are very much guilty. She settles into her role at the center, recruits additional help, and continues to stay in touch with her friends at the district attorney's office.
Then, she gets a surprise phone call from one of her law professor's, Hilton James, who is now serving on the Colorado Supreme Court. He wants to utilize her expertise nominating her as court appointed counsel for a death row inmate during his appeal process. Problem is, he's been convicted of rape and murder. Conflict of interest much?!? Cinda tries multiple excuses and dodges to let herself off the hook gracefully, but James is having none of it. Reluctantly, Cinda agrees. She is assured that her job is nothing more than a glorified paper pusher. She is to review the trial notes to determine if any errors occurred, and then submit her brief. She doesn't even have to meet the accused, Jason Smiley, unless she wants to.
Cinda is a damned good lawyer though. If she is going to take a job, she will represent her client as ethically as possible...and that means dragging herself down to the state prison against her better judgement to hear Smiley's side of the story. And what a side it is! The more Cinda looks into the case, the more it seems that nothing is simple as she was led to believe. What exactly lies beneath the surface of this case? And does the unexpected death of a rock climber in the Rockies, not far from where the woman's remains were found, have anything to do with Smiley? Read to find out!
Bottom line: Wesson has offered up a procedural law novel, with hints of mystery and a dash of thrill. She has fleshed Cinda out into a realistic protagonist with struggles, fears, and hopes readers can readily relate too. Her moral crisis is very well done. Readers of John Grisham may also like Wesson, but (in my personal opinion) her writing skills don't measure up to giants in the genre. Given a rating of 3 stars or "good". Recommended as a library check out find.
Stuff I learned: Here's a link to an explanation of Habeas Corpus. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-r...
And here's a fun link to the history of car phones (which Cinda was contemplating getting for the convenience, but dreading at the same time). https://www.techwalla.com/articles/th...
"The worst mistake was I'm not guilty but the jury thought I was. That's the only mistake I noticed, but I thought it was a pretty big one."
~~Flagstaff Mountain, just outside Boulder.
Meet Cinda Hayes--resident of Boulder, Colorado. She's decided to resign from her position as chief sex-crimes prosecutor for the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, and pursue her passion instead. She takes a position as director of the Boulder County Rape Crisis Center. Her law expertise at the center is needed, as men accused of rape begin to sue the victims for defamation of character, even when those men are very much guilty. She settles into her role at the center, recruits additional help, and continues to stay in touch with her friends at the district attorney's office.
Then, she gets a surprise phone call from one of her law professor's, Hilton James, who is now serving on the Colorado Supreme Court. He wants to utilize her expertise nominating her as court appointed counsel for a death row inmate during his appeal process. Problem is, he's been convicted of rape and murder. Conflict of interest much?!? Cinda tries multiple excuses and dodges to let herself off the hook gracefully, but James is having none of it. Reluctantly, Cinda agrees. She is assured that her job is nothing more than a glorified paper pusher. She is to review the trial notes to determine if any errors occurred, and then submit her brief. She doesn't even have to meet the accused, Jason Smiley, unless she wants to.
Cinda is a damned good lawyer though. If she is going to take a job, she will represent her client as ethically as possible...and that means dragging herself down to the state prison against her better judgement to hear Smiley's side of the story. And what a side it is! The more Cinda looks into the case, the more it seems that nothing is simple as she was led to believe. What exactly lies beneath the surface of this case? And does the unexpected death of a rock climber in the Rockies, not far from where the woman's remains were found, have anything to do with Smiley? Read to find out!
Bottom line: Wesson has offered up a procedural law novel, with hints of mystery and a dash of thrill. She has fleshed Cinda out into a realistic protagonist with struggles, fears, and hopes readers can readily relate too. Her moral crisis is very well done. Readers of John Grisham may also like Wesson, but (in my personal opinion) her writing skills don't measure up to giants in the genre. Given a rating of 3 stars or "good". Recommended as a library check out find.
Stuff I learned: Here's a link to an explanation of Habeas Corpus. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-r...
And here's a fun link to the history of car phones (which Cinda was contemplating getting for the convenience, but dreading at the same time). https://www.techwalla.com/articles/th...
August 27, 2007
RENDER UP THE BODY (Legal Thriller-Colorado-Cont) – G
Wesson, Marianne – 1st book
Harper Collins, 1998 – Hardcover
Cinda Hayes has left her job as a sex-crimes prosecutor to become the director of the Boulder County Rape Crisis Center. However, her former teacher and mentor, Justice Hilton James, asks her to handle the appeal of Jason Smiley, convicted of rape and murder. Her friends distance themselves from her and she loses her job, but as inconsistencies in the original trial build, she is determined to do all she can for her client in spite of her own personal moral dilemma.
*** I'll admit I had a bit of trouble getting into this; in fact, it took me three tries. However, the third time was a charm and by page 53, I was hooked and stayed up way too late to finish it. I'm not a lawyer, and I think some of the legal detail is what slowed me down. I really liked the character of Cinda. I did have to remind myself the story is set in 1990/1991 and being very liberal, one of the major plot points seemed a non-issue to me, but I know that not true even today. The story builds well and the ending is effective, even though I guessed it. Overall, I though it was good and will read the next, because it's already on my shelf, but I'm not certain I'd have sought it out otherwise. Think I'll stick to Grisham.
Wesson, Marianne – 1st book
Harper Collins, 1998 – Hardcover
Cinda Hayes has left her job as a sex-crimes prosecutor to become the director of the Boulder County Rape Crisis Center. However, her former teacher and mentor, Justice Hilton James, asks her to handle the appeal of Jason Smiley, convicted of rape and murder. Her friends distance themselves from her and she loses her job, but as inconsistencies in the original trial build, she is determined to do all she can for her client in spite of her own personal moral dilemma.
*** I'll admit I had a bit of trouble getting into this; in fact, it took me three tries. However, the third time was a charm and by page 53, I was hooked and stayed up way too late to finish it. I'm not a lawyer, and I think some of the legal detail is what slowed me down. I really liked the character of Cinda. I did have to remind myself the story is set in 1990/1991 and being very liberal, one of the major plot points seemed a non-issue to me, but I know that not true even today. The story builds well and the ending is effective, even though I guessed it. Overall, I though it was good and will read the next, because it's already on my shelf, but I'm not certain I'd have sought it out otherwise. Think I'll stick to Grisham.
February 10, 2009
Render Up the Body is a legal thriller narrated in the first person by a lawyer, Cinda Hayes, representing a death row killer in his last appeal. Cinda leaves her job in the Boulder County, CO prosecutor's office to become director of the local rape crisis center, and almost at the same time, is appointed by the court to defend, of all people, a convicted rapist and murderer. The title, Render Up the Body, is a translation of the legal term habeas corpus, and the book revolves around whether a petition for habeas corpus can be granted for someone duly convicted of a crime, even if there is new evidence of innocence. The story meanders in the middle stretches but gathers steam toward the end; the denouement is startling and quite inventive. Though the blurbs compare Wesson to Scott Thurow, her characters are not nearly as well fleshed out as those of Thurow's. The only character in this book who really rang true to me was the protagonist, Cinda Hayes, bu the plot and the legal twists and turns make this an entertaining read. Better than three stars but not quite four.
December 17, 2012
On the front of this paperback is a quote from Sara Paretsky, "Scott Turow fans will devour this intense legal drama." I beg to differ. At times, the main character, Cinda Hayes seems quite flaky. This time, for the first time, I guessed the surprise ending. She is employed as the director of a rape crisis center, but is somewhat coerced into taking the appeal of a convicted rapist and murderer. She finds out that her best friend is gay, and she is dating a black attorney in Colorado, so she is not your typical lawyer. At times, things seem to drag. Perhaps it could have been tightened up somewhat.
May 27, 2014
This is the only book that I have read from Marianne Wesson. I really enjoyed reading it.
December 21, 2021
This is lawyer Marianne Wesson's first novel and I think she's on to a good thing. Cinda Hayes leaves the Boulder County district attorney's office to head up the Rape Crisis Center but she's asked to take on a death row appeal case. Jason Smiley is on death row for a rape and murder and now she must see if she can find a hole in the case. As I think back on this book, there are lots of holes in the plot and some of the writing is less than practiced. BUT, I was compelled from the first word to the last - warts and all. I think this is the case where book number two will be really really good and I plan to find out the minute it's released.
July 9, 2018
Found this book at a holiday apartment I was staying and was pleasantly surprised, so much so that I ordered the next book in the series on amazon for £1 as soon as I finished it. Engaging with lost of (often predicted) twists but I really enjoyed the nostalgia of video recorders, floppy disc drives and the of making arrangements before mobile phones.
September 7, 2022
I didn’t find this very interesting, it seemed quite improbable at times.
March 13, 2023
A law school professor, Marianne Wesson, wrote this book, and it shows. Despite being more technical in it's lawyering information, the characters are engaging
and the plot is interesting.
and the plot is interesting.
November 23, 2023
The story is set around a lawyer (Lucinda) who leaves her practice and is now working at a rape crisis centre and is given a death row appeal case.
August 7, 2013
I just happened to pick this book up in a used book store, along with several other books to expand the authors and styles that I read.
Marianne writes in the 1st person, which is not my preferred style. It is a dark, intricate plot set in 1990/1991 and is already somewhat technologically and politically dated. Given that the author is a lawyer, it’s not surprising that it is mired in a lot of legalese which bogs the story down. The author is also liberal, pushing her views on body size, inter-racial couples and gay couples, which many may feel are non-issues. She is also against the death penalty. The ending was abrupt (and a little predictable considering her views) and she could have done a lot more with it.
On the plus side it is well written and her main character is well developed, and if you can skim over the lawyer talk an enjoyable read.
Marianne writes in the 1st person, which is not my preferred style. It is a dark, intricate plot set in 1990/1991 and is already somewhat technologically and politically dated. Given that the author is a lawyer, it’s not surprising that it is mired in a lot of legalese which bogs the story down. The author is also liberal, pushing her views on body size, inter-racial couples and gay couples, which many may feel are non-issues. She is also against the death penalty. The ending was abrupt (and a little predictable considering her views) and she could have done a lot more with it.
On the plus side it is well written and her main character is well developed, and if you can skim over the lawyer talk an enjoyable read.
September 24, 2015
A legal thriller with some unconventional twists linked with a favourite feminist topic (the crime of rape) and written by a woman. Loved the insights into the working of the female mind. [As a male author I rely on a female editor to point out gender flaws in my manuscripts - but I'm glad to say she identifies very few.]
The reader can spend a lot of time inside "Cinda's" head but she's totally believable as a character (not surprising considering the author's legal background) and the book is an enjoyable read, though it seemed truncated at the end.
Did "Jason" get what he deserved? That depends on your point of view about rape.
I'd buy another Wesson book.
The reader can spend a lot of time inside "Cinda's" head but she's totally believable as a character (not surprising considering the author's legal background) and the book is an enjoyable read, though it seemed truncated at the end.
Did "Jason" get what he deserved? That depends on your point of view about rape.
I'd buy another Wesson book.
November 4, 2008
Despite being required reading for class, the twists in the novel made it a quick and delightful read. I believe it is now out of print, so copies are harder to come by -- but well worth it. I devoured this book and enjoyed the simultaneous lesson on habeus corpus paired with a dark and intricate plot.
January 9, 2010
Introduced by Nancy since she has a signed copy. Wesson is a prof of law at the U of CO in Boulder. In this novel she was more than capable of exploring complicated issues in law so that they are understandable and her characters are enjoyable. She aslo avoided the cliche ending.
I have the second novel to read--"A Suggestion of Death".
I have the second novel to read--"A Suggestion of Death".
November 5, 2011
Lucinda Hayes is a former prosecutor, who forsakes her job as the director of a rape crisis center to represent a death row inmate, Jason Smiley, in his appeal. The ending is unexpected but belieable.
September 7, 2012
good book. very involved and great detail in the legal procedure aspect. The unexpected twist at the end was sad but showed what can happen if every piece of evidence is not scrutinized and questioned before trial.
August 23, 2011
One of the best crime novels I have ever read.If you're looking for dark, troubled character and if you like twists that are as good as the ending of The Sixth Sense, you'll love this book.
Want to read
July 19, 2013Colorado author
September 2, 2013
From my previous list- audiobook
October 4, 2013
In my early teens, I had a brief but intense fascination with gritty crime fiction (or what I deemed gritty, in my limited exposure) - this was one of those titles.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews