Imperfect Justice (Hidden Justice)

By: Cara Putman
Publisher: Haper Collins Publishers
Publication Date: December 2017
ISBN: 978-0718083489
Review by: Jennifer Rearick
Review Date: March 2018

Emilie Wesley spends her time as a lawyer at the Haven, a safe place for women to get help to get out of domestic violence relationships. Although it can be stressful, Emilie is great at what she does and has been able to help numerous women. Although she has helped many, her recent case is one that she cannot move forward from.

Kaylene Adams has been coming to the Haven for the past couple of months looking to get out of the abusive relationship with her husband Robert. Along with leaving Robert, Kaylene plans on taking her two children Kaydence and Kinley with her. Although Kaylene had been going back and forth with the idea of leaving Robert, the time has finally come. Her plans were to meet with her attorney, Emilie, to officially get a protective order against Robert.

When Emilie got to the courtroom, she was expecting to see Kaylene there. When she couldn't find her, she began to panic. After calling her numerous times, with no answer, Emilie had to postpone the hearing until she could find her client. As she was leaving the courtroom, Emile spotted a detective that she knew. Emilie asked him to check on Kaylene and let her know if Kaylene was okay. Emilie continued her day, but later got an unexpected call. Kaylene and her daughter Kaydence were dead and Kinley, although still alive, had been wounded as well. It is suspected that Kaylene shot both of her daughters before turning the gun on herself.

Knowing that this cannot be true, Emilie decides that she has to figure out what actually happened. Not wanting to go to Robert, Emilie contacts Kaylene's brother Reid. Reid however is hesitant - he isn't sure what information he can give Emilie since he wasn't very close to Kaylene.

Emilie, not wanting to give up and knowing that she has to save Kinley, continues to look into Kaylene's death. Reid, not wanting to believe it either, wanted to look into Kaylene's death as well. Although Reid wasn't close to Kaylene, he did have a couple boxes of Kaylene's that she asked him to keep for her. While he was looking through those boxes, he found a letter from her. In the letter she asks him to look after her children if anything were to happen to her. After reading the letter, although he still doesn't know what was going on between Kaylene and Robert, he knows that he has to do whatever he can to protect Kinley and clear Kaylene's name.

Emilie and Reid begin working together to not only protect Kinley, but to get the proof they need to clear Kaylene's name. Although they have people who say things weren't the best between Kaylene and Robert, they do not have the proof they need to prove it was Robert and get custody of Kinley. Emilie and Reid, knowing that they can't help Kaylene anymore begin to wonder if and when they will get enough evidence to prove Kinley shouldn't be in Robert's care. As the time draws nearer for Kinley to be released from the hospital, Emilie and Reid are in a race against time to get justice for Kaylene and Kaydence and protect Kinley.

Imperfect Justice was an interesting read. When you first start reading, you start to get an idea of how the book is going to go. You believe that Emilie knows the truth, but now she has to prove it. As the book goes on, you can get conflicted. On one hand, you want to believe that Kaylene wouldn't hurt her children, but as Emilie and Reid hit one roadblock after another, you can start to think that maybe Kaylene did do it. You continue down this path of - I don't know or it could go either way - until the very end. The end ties it together and tells you a story that you weren't expecting. The story is very well written and kept me on the edge of my seat wondering if Emilie was going to get what they needed in time.

Quill says: Imperfect Justice is a great read and shows that you really can't judge a book by its cover.