We are read Mission Hill for the February 24, 2023 Meeting.
There are no spoilers for the top part of this post – the beginning of this post is only a repeat of the information provided about the book that was provided at the start of the month, before the meeting. But…..
Near the bottom of the page, there is a place for our participants to leave comments about the book, and spoilers will likely be included. Don’t scroll down to the comments area, until you have finished the book.
Mission Hill, written by Pamela Wechsler, is a legal thriller featuring a Boston prosecutor. It is the first of three in her District Attorney Abby Endicott series.
Abby Endicott is chief of the District Attorney’s homicide unit in Boston, where she investigates and prosecutes the city’s most dangerous killers. A member of Beacon Hill’s elite, and a graduate of Harvard Law, the prosecutor’s office is not the prestigious job that would have been expected of her. She has been known to change into an evening gown amidst bodies in the morgue. She loves her job, and is committed to it, refusing all pressure to quit from her upper-crust parents or threats from the city’s most ruthless killers. But among Abby’s many secrets is her longtime affair with fellow prosecutor Tim Mooney, a married father of one.
One night, Abby is awakened very late by a phone call from her favorite detective, who reports that there has been a horrific murder but is vague about the specifics. When she arrives at the crime scene and discovers the identity of the victim, Abby knows the terror and tragedy are only beginning.
Abby is a woman who will stop at nothing to find the truth, even if it challenges everything she believes about justice.
Learn more about Pamela Wechsler and her career…
PAMELA WECHSLER spent over fifteen years working as a criminal prosecutor at the local, state and federal levels. She has served as an assistant district attorney and assistant attorney general in Boston, and she was a trial attorney for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.. She has investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of crimes, including: murder, witness intimidation, sexual assault, drug trafficking, stock market manipulation, and political corruption.
Pam moved to Los Angeles to work as a legal consultant and writer and producer for network television shows. Her credits include: Doubt; Law and Order; Law and Order: Criminal Intent; Law and Order: Trial by Jury; Conviction; and Canterbury’s Law.
Pam grew up in the Boston area and is a graduate of Tufts and Boston University School of Law. In 2011, Wechsler packed up again when her mother became ill. She called friend and former colleague a Middlesex County district attorney, and started her new job at Lowell Superior Court in July.
Back in Boston, working cases as a DA again, she began thinking of writing a book. Leveraging her creativity (and Hollywood contacts) she wrote Mission Hill, and won a three-book contract with Macmillan Publishers.
The plotlines [of my novels] are drawn from my own experiences. I was exposed to other people’s trauma. In some ways, it makes you empathetic [and] in some ways, more cynical. It makes you fearful. It gives you insight and knowledge about the dark side of people and society. Being a prosecutor also taught me how to be a storyteller, because when you’re [at] trial, you’re telling a story.
[Book protagonist Abby Endicott] is a homicide prosecutor in Boston. But I do not come from the same background, and we are very different personality-wise. She’s someone who lives in two worlds — she’s from a Brahmin family but chooses to spend her days working with people from very different backgrounds than hers.
— From a Boston Globe interview April 29, 2016: “Former prosecutor Pamela Wechsler now makes her case in mystery novels” as told to Corlyn Voorhees.
After the publication of Mission Hill, she decided to go back to Hollywood and again work on television dramas. This included time as a writer and producer of the CBS drama Bull (2016-2021). At the same time she completed two more books for Macmillan: The Graves, and The Fens.
NOTE: The book’s setting is all over Boston and NOT just the Mission Hill neighborhood.
If you have read the book, write your thoughts on the book and the score you came up with here. This is …
(1) for those who will not be able to attend the meeting. Your comments and score will be read during the meeting.
(2) for those who do attend. Please consider writing some of your thoughts about the book here after the meeting, even if you expressed them in the meeting. This helps provide a “report” to those who could not attend.
Reader Scores for Mission Hill
Please write your book reactions and score where it says “LEAVE A REPLY,” below. You can also [nicely] comment on any other participant’s thoughts.
Although I gave the book an 81 I’m not really sure how much I enjoyed it. I liked the Boston setting and the characters of Abby and Ty. however I felt there were too many other characters that for me were a distraction and hindered my ability to solve Tim’s murder and enjoy the book. I don’t think I’ll read the other books any time soon
Just in case my deck is too slippery to attend the meeting I want to rate the Mission Hill book an 85. I like the way the story moved along and the author mentioned Beacon Hill and the gas lights, black iron gates , and antique shops. I wish she had given a little more history and less characters. Never suspected Owen, as usual he was not mentioned often. I would read another book by her. Joan
I started Mission Hill a few weeks ago, read about ½, and then put it down to finish closer to the meeting day. I found the early chapters a little difficult to follow and didn’t really connect with the characters or the story. I especially found uncomfortable Abby’s relationship with her boyfriend Ty. That relationship seemed like a difficult and unfulfilling one to me for both Abby and Ty.
When I returned to reading the book this past week, I found it difficult to pick up the thread. I was confused about which crime was being tried in the courtroom case. But after backtracking a little, I caught up and enjoyed the last 70 pages. I was even able to make a better connection. The last several chapters were compelling and I breezed through them, finally enjoying the book a little more than at first and being fully surprised by the revelation of the perpetrator.
If I had to rate the book on the first half, I would have given it about a 78. But having connected and liking it better in the second half, I will rate the book 88.
I enjoyed the fast pace of this legal thriller and the persistence and loyalty of Abby Endicott. It wasn’t totally apparent to me why Abby was so committed to her line of work. The death of her friend Crystal by Orlando Jones was her impetus, but I felt it was not her total reason. She was good at what she did, though her family was not behind her choice of profession. I would have preferred more insight into her mindset, though it’s obvious she didn’t share those inner thoughts with many. Hopefully in the future she’ll be better at that with Ty.
I figured the culprit may have been Owen about 2/3 of the way through the book. Max certainly was not a stellar character, but Owen was a lackey who covered too much for his boss in a sycophantic way. In reality he was covering for his own deeds of bribery and extortion. I am surprised no one in the office knew about his gambling addiction. Everyone certainly knew about Max’s drinking problem.
The likelihood of Abby being allowed to take over Tim’s trial was a stretch. Of course, by being allowed to continue she was also able to bring justice for Crystal and her family. Yes, there was definite bias by Abby toward Orlando, but I think she put up a good case and uncovered more than the scope of the original trial. Having more than just the trial, but also the investigation into Max and the old Big Dig accusations made the story more varied and compelling.
The Boston setting was fun and I could picture places where she was walking, working and living. I do not understand why the title was “Mission Hill”, since most of the action took place in downtown Boston, Comm Ave, JP and Mattapan. I’m sure one of you can enlighten me.
Overall, I liked the book and gave it an 85.
Leslie
PS: Did anyone else catch the gender mix up on p. 123 and 125 for juror #5? On p. 123 juror five is a female, on p. 125 a male.There were also a few typos.
In supporting ~ Dick’s website and the book club this may be somewhat of a repeat as I was at the meeting via Zoom ~
Mission Hill was a very quick, entertaining read with no real sophistication about it.
Given it was described as a Legal Thriller I did not find it thrilling despite the twist at the end ~ Abby was a likable character to me from her perspective of Boston and the Brahmins ~ None of the characters were particularly developed in any depth ~ nor was the court room scene ~ The first clue to me foreshadowing Owen’s character was when he gave Abby the charm bracelet from his daughter ~ a ‘Red Flag’ to me as possible issue in the future ~ Overall, It was just a good read.
I gave it an 80 .
PS ~ My dog didn’t eat my homework for club ~ It was where it was suppose to be ~ in the Mystery Book Club folder ~ lol
Mike called my attention to this nice video of Mission Hill Basilica – aka: Boston’s Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oGOwdj2YbI
Thanks, Mike ~ good to see what is ‘right in our own back yard ~ what a treasure of devotion and belief ~
and connected to our reading Mission Hill ~
Carol McK
I liked the book, even though I pretty well knew where this was going from the first comments about Max, The Big Dig., etc.
The writing style was a bit like the needle on a 78 rpm vinyl skipping grooves meaning that she jumps along painting quick scenes but not necessarily connecting them. I don’t mean from chapter to chapter, but often from one paragraph to the next. I think this is Wechsler the scriptwriter not making a full about-turn to writing a novel. This is still not a major criticism, in her case, because in some ways it helped with “suspense” – the feel of going over the speed limit – watch out – hold on.
In the first 100 pages, I wasn’t feeling much for Abby Endicott, the lead character, especially not liking the relationship with a married man (Tim). But she was witty, and she grew on me as the book went along. Due to the way she burned money on expensive paintings, clothing, and even rare Poe books, it made me think of her as a kind of modern, wealthy Nora Charles, minus Nora’s flighty – flirty aspects. Liked her dedication to the job but also to truth and justice.
Finally after reading 3 other authored books with no clear ending, at least there is resolution here in both Abby Endicott’s personal life and in the solution to the plot.
A solid “B-”
And I might read another.
Last night, more or less out of the blue, I got to thinking about a comment that Michele made in our meeting about court watchers. I went back and checked in the book: references to one of the several court watchers in the ongoing trial in the book was Harold. He comes up in about six scenes in the book. He is introduced on page 30 like this: “Scattered among the suits are five or six court watchers, men who spend their days alternating between trials in the always-busy courthouse. Court watchers have their favorite prosecutors, and we have our favorite court watchers. Harold is mine. His brown head is shaved bald, and he carries a silver-tipped walking stick and speaks with a British accent even though he grew up in nearby blue-collar Revere.”
I imagine the author was used to seeing court watchers when she was trying cases s an ADA in Middlesex County.
I have heard of this before probably in other legal thrillers or in the news. Generally they are retired people who have found that sitting in on a trial; can be entertaining – like a real live courtroom drama without having to read it.
It makes me wonder why we haven’t done the same as a mystery book club field trip. Of course, I’d hate to lose any of our regulars who might quit our book group in favor of courtroom “watching”! Still, what do you think – a visit to Salem Superior Court? Or Gloucester District Court?
Now, it turns out that Michele mentioned that she had done some online research regarding “court watchers.” Apparently there are some people who are active in trying to hold county DAs responsible for enacting reforms that ensure, among other things, that people are not put in jail awaiting trial “because they are poor, addicted, or mentally ill” when the crimes are trespassing, driving without a license, smoking weed, etc. These activists call themselves Court Watchers – they gather data on cases and their dispositions, especially whether the prosecutor asks for bail, how much money, and so on.
Michele passed on these websites she found: (1) the Statewide group: https://www.courtwatchma.org/
(2) Essex County group – which did training classes for volunteers at the Cabot street Church in Beverly on collecting data while watching court cases. The pandemic disrupted courts as well as the court watching.
https://www.courtwatchma.org/essex-county.html
I wonder how many in our group or community would be interested in a guest speaker from this group?
Kudos to Michelle for ‘going the extra mile’ and researching court room watchers ~ I liked that character Harold with his silver tipped walking cane in Mission Hill ~ great links which I will read if we get the predicted snow storm due soon ~
Also, brings to mind of another ‘watcher’ the character in the coffee shop that always seemed to be there and was a former client of Abby’s? ~
This is great to have this site and hear about what others derive from the books we read ~ Hope to read more ~ especially with Winter now upon us.
Might enjoy visiting the Salem Court ~