case. The case was sensational ever since Monahan’s murder, but Graham’s arrest incited an absolute media frenzy. Graham soon gained the nickname “Bloody Babs” in the press because she allegedly brutally beat Monahan before her death. After her execution, Graham became the subject of a highly successful movie, I Want to Live, with Susan Hayward winning an Oscar for her portrayal of Graham.

Marcia Clark’s path to writing Trial by Ambush was unusual. A few years earlier, she had decided to write a true crime book instead of her usual fictional thrillers. However, Clark was waiting for the right case, one she felt passionate about because she knew she would be required to immerse herself in that case by doing months of research and writing. Clark was aware of the Graham case but thought at first it was too ancient and too well-covered by other writers. However, as she began her research, she found that the coverage since Graham’s death had been cursory, with no discussion of the actual trial, which was Clark’s chief interest. The more she researched, the more she believed Graham had been the victim of a severe miscarriage of justice. Thus, Trial by Ambush was born.

Clark faced several significant obstacles in writing the book. The crime and trial took place 70 years earlier, and all the witnesses were dead. (Clark was born during the trial.) Further, the only contemporaneous evidence about the case comprised sensational press articles, two poorly written books, and the fictionalized Hayward movie. However, Clark knew where to look for official records, based on her own experience as a prosecutor. She finally discovered the 4,000 pages of trial transcripts, as well as grand jury testimony by major witnesses and statements the police got from witness interrogations. These documents, many of which had been unseen for decades, gave Clark a better idea of what occurred in 1953 and, more importantly, what the defense was never allowed to see.

Trial by Ambush is actually a “true-courtroom” book instead of a “true-crime” one. Clark briefly covers the crime and its investigation and provides a brief biography of Graham’s life before her arrest. It’s a familiar story of a woman who was neglected as a child, wound up in juvenile correctional facilities, got arrested several times, got convicted of perjury (a conviction that would come back to haunt her), and was married four times. Her fourth husband, Henry Graham, introduced her to Jack Santo and Emmitt Perkins, the men who would become her co-defendants. While still married to Graham, she began an affair with Perkins and became involved in the planned robbery of Mabel Monahan. The men became convinced Monahan had a large sum of money in a safe in her home and tried to force her to open the safe. There was no money, and Monahan died during the robbery.

The factual background occupies the first quarter of Trial by Ambush. The rest of the book primarily describes the trial in detail, with some discussion of the appeals process. Here, Clark serves a similar function as sports color commentators. She discusses the strategies and tactics employed by the prosecution and defense. She sometimes draws comparisons with her own experience, including the Simpson case. However, Trial by Ambush is not an attempt by Clark to re-litigate the Simpson case or justify her actions there. She also provides readers with an education about the evolution of criminal practice in the United States, particularly the gradual development of the concepts of due process and defendants’ rights. In 1953, prosecutors were mainly free to employ many tricks and strategies that don’t pass muster today. In particular, they could and did withhold vital evidence from the defense, a practice not banned by the Supreme Court until several years later. Clark’s research turned up much of this exculpatory evidence, which she reveals in the book. Graham and her attorneys were not as fortunate.

In discussing the prosecution’s tactics in this case, Clark notes which ones were illegal at the time of the trial, which were serious violations of professional ethics, and which were banned later. The case against the three defendants rested primarily on the testimony of John True, an accomplice during the robbery who turned state’s evidence. He testified, among other things, that Graham had beaten Monahan during the attempt. True’s version of events contradicted those of Graham, who claimed she was home that night, and that of Baxter Shorter, who had been hired to open the safe. Shorter said that Graham’s only involvement was to act as a decoy and persuade Monahan to open her door, something the victim would never have done for a man. Unfortunately for the prosecution, Shorter was kidnapped and disappeared before he could testify (although Clark saw his various statements). The kidnapping was never officially solved, but most people believe Santo and Perkins eliminated the would-be snitch. The defense never got to see Shorter’s statements, which contradicted much of True’s sworn testimony (as did True’s earlier statements to police).

Some of Clark’s findings were disturbing for her personally. The chief prosecutor on the case was J. Miller Leavy, whom Clark described as an icon when she joined the L.A. Country District Attorney’s Office years later. Whenever Clark or one of her colleagues lost a case, the others in the office would kid them and say, “J. Miller Leavy could have won it.” At first, Clark believed Leavy’s reputation, but she found the reality of the man shockingly different. As she describes, Leavy and his associates repeatedly used as shabby, unethical, and illegal tactics before and during the trial as Clark had ever encountered.

Several versions of the actual crime emerged during the trial (and in the book). Clark sometimes is sloppy in relating them, leaving the impression at times that one version is “the truth.” Obviously, no one alive today knows what happened, and there is no documentary evidence. At the end of Trial by Ambush, Clark gives her opinion about what happened and some views about why the prosecutors and press railroaded Graham as they did. She points out the difference between whether Graham was actually innocent (legally debatable) and whether Clark should have been convicted based on the evidence presented and the prosecution’s tactics (not legally debatable). In so doing, she provides the best legal analysis of the case anyone has given to date.

Clark also adds a veteran novelist’s flair for descriptive writing, as when she describes looking at a photo of Graham surrounded by the press: “[Graham] is looking up at the sea of reporters—all men, their cameras and lights pointing down at her. A few of them are on bended knee, leaning toward her like nervous lovers about to propose. A palpable intensity radiating from the scene makes it feel as though Barbara could be consumed on the spot by the sheer energy pouring down on her. … She looks vulnerable, small, and very alone. The antithesis of all the news coverage I’d read that painted her as a vicious and cold-blooded, albeit beautiful, murderer.” Unfortunately, Clark doesn’t include that or any other photos in “Trial by Ambush,” which would have improved the book. However, her powerful, evocative language makes navigating the sometimes complex discussions of testimony and legal standards much easier for readers.

Trial by Ambush is an excellent recounting of a sensational trial that has receded in the public’s awareness over many decades. Anyone reading it should feel sympathy for Barbara Graham, who did not deserve the treatment she received from a press and judicial system that was out to get her. Readers will also get a greater appreciation for trial strategies and how criminal law has changed in the last 70 years to prevent the recurrence of spectacles like this. Marcia Clark’s description of legal precedents may sometimes be a bit too technical for lay readers (she uses official legal citations many won’t understand for precedent-setting cases). Still, her overall tone is powerful and descriptive. This book should be a must for historical, true crime fans and those interested in the criminal justice system.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.