Presumed Guilty

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, mental illness, and substance use. 

Presumed Guilty is the third book in a legal thriller series following Rusty Sabich and his interactions with the criminal justice system. Turow introduced Rusty in Presumed Innocent (1987), his first novel set in Kindle County. Ten of Turow’s novels take place in this fictional Midwestern county, and many characters recur to differing degrees. In Presumed Innocent, Rusty, a prosecutor, investigates the murder of his colleague and once-lover, Carolyn Polhemus, despite his conflict of interest. After his boss, Raymond Horgan, loses his re-election, his replacement, Nico Della Guardia, charges Rusty with Carolyn’s murder. Rusty and his defense lawyer, Sandy Stern, fight against Della Guardia and his deputy, Tommy Molto, and ultimately discredit the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence. Rusty’s wife, Barbara, confesses privately to killing Carolyn, but Rusty doesn’t break up the marriage for their son Nat’s sake.

Rusty draws on this experience in Presumed Guilty, as he must show to the jury that Jackdorp and Glowoski’s circumstantial evidence doesn’t conclusively prove Aaron’s guilt. His complicated and unfulfilling relationships with Barbara and Carolyn inform his relationship with Bea, whom he believes has finally broken his cycle of unhappiness.