Vincent Bugliosi certainly knows that he is a good lawyer and lets this be known, which can read as rather pompous at times, but his attitude only enhances the story in the end rather than distract from it. There are numerous footnotes to expound upon testimony and court procedures, which can slow down the narrative. "And The Sea Will Tell" is a riveting case and a very thorough examination of the murder trial, perhaps almost too thorough at times. The second part of the book is told through Bugliosi's first-person narration, a recounting of how he became acquainted with the case and served as a defense lawyer in the murder trial, evidence existing in the bones of Eleanor Graham being divugled by the sea several years after that fateful trip. The first part is told through third-person narrative, recounting the events that unfolded on the island, and Buck and Jennifer's subsequent arrest when they return to Hawaii: with the Grahams no where in sight, murder is the immediate conclusion. When Buck and Jennifer return to Hawaii aboard the Sea Wind, the reader knows that something horrible has happened to the Grahams, but Bugliosi chooses to keep those details for the second part of the book. The two couples who found themselves living upon Palmyra couldn't have been more opposite: the Grahams were conservative and extremely prepared for their voyage, while Buck and Jennifer were certified hippies, inexperienced at sea and surprisingly unprepared to deal with life on the atoll, which gave almost every visitor a discomforting vibe. For Palmyra, far from deserted, was a place of interest and stopping point of many travelers, including Malcolm and Eleanor Graham, experienced sea travelers who planned to spend at least a year at Palmyra, having sailed form Hawaii on their beautiful boat the Sea Wind. Jennifer went along with Buck, never dreaming of the nightmare they would encounter there. It was Buck's idea to sail to Palmyra Island, a deserted atoll in the South Seas, where they could live off the land and no one would be the wiser. Yet she fell in love with Buck and would do anything for him, even aid him in his flight from the law. Jennifer Jenkins and Buck Walker couldn't have been a better example of opposites attract: Buck was a convicted felon while Jennifer, not exactly spotless in her record, was certainly peaceful and nonviolent. Bugliosi not only serves as the author, but also the defense attorney in a case that sought to bring justice to one of the accused killers over a decade after the grisly murders took place in 1974. It is the tale of two couples living on a supposedly deserted South Pacific atoll that ends with two people losing their lives with very little evidence as to how it happened.
As a fan of mystery stories, both real and fictional, I was drawn to the premise of "And The See Will Tell" by Vincent Bugliosi.
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