A Scandal of the Particular

Like Crime Novels? Today we talk about Hyman Kazan, the protagonist in “A Scandal of the Particular” by Steve Hamilton.  Kazan has a struggling legal career and an unfulfilled, passionate girlfriend. But the situation is about to get worse, much worse, when the body of a young man from Scotland is found outside of a […]

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Like Crime Novels? Today we talk about Hyman Kazan, the protagonist in “A Scandal of the Particular” by Steve Hamilton. 

Kazan has a struggling legal career and an unfulfilled, passionate girlfriend. But the situation is about to get worse, much worse, when the body of a young man from Scotland is found outside of a safe injection site in downtown Vancouver. The dark, rainy streets of the Lower Mainland are about to explode when it is discovered that this corpse and Kazan’s girlfriend shared the same lover, Judge Craig Donald Smith. As his world begins to  crumble, Kazan finds himself with one last chance to find truth and happiness. Then he finds himself alone with his demons and a loaded handgun, in a struggle to find justice, ethics, and integrity. But does he have the courage?

Welcome to this edition of Newsgram! 

The Crime genre has become extremely popular. It’s been said that half of Americans consume some sort of true crime content regularly — perhaps you are one of them. If so, today’s show will be of particular interest to you because you’re going to meet Steve Hamilton, a former prosecutor and criminologist.

Steve has been in the trenches so he brings an insiders perspective on the goings on in the criminal justice system. 

 Steve Hamilton – I was a prosecutor for over thirty years. I did everything from murder to mayhem and I wanted to write a book to sort of talk about, from a prosecutor’s point of view, what’s involved in a criminal case and also what’s behind a criminal case. 

The book he mentioned is called A Scandal of the Particular  and in it Steve likes to get into more than just the case at hand because every case involves people with lives of their own. 

Steve Hamilton – The victims, the lawyers, their spouses, their relationships.

He says it’s like a trial within a trial and I think all of these added layers make this story a lot more interesting. Steve is not just a writer or a former prosecutor he is also very mindful of our social responsibility and that is reflected in the story as well.  

Steve Hamilton – There’s never a victim that’s just one victim. Even the accused family is affected by the outcome of their actions. The accused is affected. The community is affected and it has a ripple effect. All of us have a role to play in the welfare of others. I honestly believe that. 

I think that is so important. Our actions and the actions of others have a ripple effect. The Criminal and the victim are not the only lives affected by a crime. There is sooo much more going on. There’s also something else to keep in mind. In the real world of criminal justice when a case is solved there’s always another one to take its place. 

Steve Hamilton – The criminal Justice System is best compared to a slaughterhouse. It’s like I love Lucy with the chocolates  that keep coming. keep coming and keep coming and so often maybe Hollywood or maybe another book will portray a defense lawyer where they do one particular case but in a prosecutor’s case and in the criminal justice system it’s one case of many. They keep coming. They keep piling up. 

You probably knew that, to be fair to your favorite crime show, many times they just focus on the case at hand and next week there’s a new one, but the fact that Steve gives that slaughterhouse mentality to his main character is one of the things that make this book different and there’s a lot more. Here’s the deal…our protagonist is Hyman Kazan. 

Steve Hamilton – Kazan is a fellow who is a senior lawyer in Vancouver. He’s on the cutting floor, the slaughterhouse day after day, cases are coming in and he gets assigned a case of a young gay man  who is killed. The police believe the person who was responsible for the murder was a judge. This gets him interested because now the criminal justice system is on trial. The judge is on trial but what makes matters worse is that his long time love partner or partner says to him oh by the way I’m in a relationship with the same judge. 

So Kazan’s girlfriend admits to him that she is or was involved with the judge. Judge Craig Donald Smith really gets around. A scandal indeed….

Steve Hamilton – So now how to deal with that? You’re seeking justice in  the criminal justice system and you’re also seeking justice for yourself. You’re dealing with jealousy. You’re dealing with revenge, you’re dealing with retribution on all of those issues on both levels. How do you navigate that; and that’s the question the protagonist says, how do I navigate this. 

It’s an emotionally complicated scenario. Ultimately you have to rely on the words of the great American Playwright Arthur Miller who said “Maybe all one can do is to hope to end up with the right regrets.” Focus on the things that are within your control instead of the things you can’t…or the things that are trying to control you.

Steve Hamilton – When you think about the criminal justice system just think right now, if you were to pick up the phone and to phone your local police force right away the criminal justice wheels are starting to grind and your control over that is gone. Whether it’s a family court case or a criminal case you turn over your autonomy to a third party like a judge, like a police force, you lose control and you may have the same morality or the same way of looking at things or you may want the same, what you see as a just outcome, whether its the custody of your children or the resolution of a criminal matter but once you let that go that person that third party may not share your view, may not share your morally; then what? It started with a phone call. 

Steve Hamilton’s new book A Scandal of the Particular is one more reminder to question everything because we are only human after all and while our system of justice is a good one it is flawed because we as humans are flawed. 

Steve Hamilton – I hope it starts a dialogue. I hope it reveals the players and people question the players at the front of the room. If you ever go into a courtroom you just see the back of heads. Ever think of you just see the back of lawyers. You see the judge’s face but you don’t see them. What’s going on in their lives that will affect the outcome of the case that’s before you? Think of them differently. We think of them as perhaps robotic in terms of going through the facts of the law or whatever but it’s far from that. Think of the players, think of the effect of the case on them and think of what’s the next case. How does this all work together? I hope it gives a revealing look at the justice system other than what just sees from A to B it goes to C,D and the rest. I Hope anyway. 

Thank you Steve Hamilton because we have to start somewhere. Supreme Court Judges, Court of appeals judges, and District court judges are all nominated by the President and confirmed by congress. Other Judges are elected in this country. How much do you know about the judicial system, the legal system and the judges on your ballot? It’s all information that is readily available.

So…

It’s another rainy day on the west coast of Canada.  Attorney Hyman Kazan is already at his lowest point in life and the booze is flowing when the body of a young man is found in downtown Vancouver with a link to Kazan’s girlfriend’s new lover, Judge Smith. As Kazan starts looking into the Judge’s possible role in the murder some sinister secrets come to surface. Secrets that threaten to destroy whatever is left of Kazan’s life. 

A Scandal of the Particular by Steve Hamilton. It’s about love, companionship, relationship upheaval, pain, regret, justice, mortality, and morality. It’s about how we drown ourselves in misery to avoid the pain of a heartbreak — his words not mine .

Check it out online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Steve’s website, HamiltonSteveBooks.com log in and read an excerpt, see what you think. 

And that will do it for this True Crime edition of Newsgram from Webtalkradio.com. 

Steve Hamilton was recently interviewed by Sloan Fremont on the very popular Books on Air podcast. Have a listen on your favorite streaming platform. 

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