{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0166JUGPM?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"B0166JUGPM","authors":["Nancy Allen"],"book_id":"9780062438751","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/the-wages-of-sin-9780062438751","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062438751.jpg?v=918f26739fda992d","description":"“The Elsie Arnold series deserves to run and run.”— Alex Marwood, author of The Wicked Girls and The Killer Next Door In rural McCown County, Missouri, a young pregnant woman is found beaten to death in a trailer park. The only witness to the murder is Ivy, her six-year-old daughter, who points to her mom’s boyfriend—father of the unborn child. County prosecutor Madeleine Thompson promises the community justice, and in the Ozarks, that can only mean one thing: a death sentence. When Madeleine’s first choice for co-counsel declines to try a death penalty case, she is forced to turn to assistant prosecutor Elsie Arnold. Elsie is reluctant to join forces with her frosty boss, but the road to conviction seems smooth—until unexpected facts about the victim arise, and the testimony of the lone eyewitness Ivy becomes increasingly crucial. Against Elsie’s advice, Madeleine brings in the state attorney general’s office to assist them, while cutthroat trial attorney Claire O’Hara joins the defense. Elsie will not let the power of prosecution—of seeking justice—be wrested from her without a fight. She wants to win the case, and to avenge the death of the mother and her unborn child. But as the trial nears, Elsie begins to harbor doubts about the death penalty itself. Meanwhile, the child Ivy is in greater danger than anyone knows. “Unflinching and gritty.” — Library Journal","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780062438751","publication_date":"20160426","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"the-wages-of-sin","subtitle":"An Ozarks Mystery","title":"The Wages of Sin"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"FIC022040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Women Detectives","score":0.8129,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC031030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Legal Thrillers","score":0.8081,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC031010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Crime Fiction","score":0.8027,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"FIC022040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Women Detectives","score":0.8129,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC031030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Legal Thrillers","score":0.8081,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC031010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Crime Fiction","score":0.8027,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"FIC022000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Mystery","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC031030","confidence_band":"high","label":"Legal Thrillers","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC050000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Crime Fiction","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Women Detectives","score":0.8129,"slug":"women-detectives"},{"label":"Legal Thrillers","score":0.8081,"slug":"legal-thrillers"},{"label":"Crime Fiction","score":0.8027,"slug":"crime-fiction"}],"reader_fit":["For readers drawn to courtroom cases over a death sentence","For readers interested in moral doubts about capital punishment"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["James Owen"],"book_id":"9798895652107","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9798895652107.jpg?v=9a0e958f21d0c311","score":0.7555,"title":"The Wicked Among US","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9798895652107"},{"authors":["Victor Methos","Brittany Pressley","Brilliance Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9781542003896","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781542003896.jpg?v=8f1525fbe7da3734","score":0.7545,"title":"A Killer's Wife","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781542003896"},{"authors":["Susan Furlong"],"book_id":"9781645060734","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781645060734.jpg?v=c6a8ff11fd3298c7","score":0.7477,"title":"The Killer's Wife","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781645060734"},{"authors":["Holly Jackson"],"book_id":"9781984896391","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781984896391.jpg?v=2d1bc9f18ed0aafa","score":0.7294,"title":"A Good Girl's Guide to Murder","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781984896391"},{"authors":["James Patterson","Nancy Allen"],"book_id":"9780316276627","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780316276627.jpg?v=0a8b72b13eb3e0ea","score":0.7265,"title":"The Jailhouse Lawyer","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780316276627"},{"authors":["Karin Slaughter","Kathleen Early","William Morrow"],"book_id":"9780063336773","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780063336773.jpg?v=97307ddbdf27ee68","score":0.725,"title":"We Are All Guilty Here","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780063336773"},{"authors":["Gregg Olsen","Rebecca Morris"],"book_id":"9781250319708","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250319708.jpg?v=4e7f5ca971173b50","score":0.7235,"title":"A Killing in Amish Country","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250319708"},{"authors":["Freida McFadden"],"book_id":"9781728296173","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781728296173.jpg?v=a4f48a1ff27e1936","score":0.723,"title":"The Inmate","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781728296173"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:gifts for women"],"label":"Women","score":0.1854,"slug":"women"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:best"],"label":"Best","score":0.1119,"slug":"best"},{"evidence_refs":["phrase_map_match"],"label":"Book Club","score":0.0215,"slug":"book-club"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Death penalty ethics, Murder prosecution, Child witness in danger.","Story elements: Lone child witness, Prosecutor and defense attorney clash.","Themes: Women, Book Club."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.91,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["For readers drawn to courtroom cases over a death sentence","For readers interested in moral doubts about capital punishment"],"themes":["Death penalty ethics","Murder prosecution","Child witness in danger"],"tropes":["Lone child witness","Prosecutor and defense attorney clash"]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":1104,"goodreads_ratings_count":739,"goodreads_reviews_count":45,"quality_score":0.9173}}