http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5333232/1/Mens_Rea_A_Guilty_Mind
http://twilighted.net/viewstory.php?sid=7140

Official Description: Edward Cullen is accused of murder for the slaying of his girlfriend. No one dares take on his case, until defense attorney Isabella Swan, that is. Edward proves to be a difficult client & the biggest challenge of her young but promising career.

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dihenydd says: It is rare for a fic to grab me so completely from the very first chapter. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times this has happened, but this is definitely one of them.

I’ve always loved a good crime novel and this is shaping up that way. There is a mystery to be solved, there is courtroom drama, there are police investigations; and they are all dealt with skillfully and feel authentic.

However, no matter how good the story bad grammar and spelling, or disjointed narration can ruin the reading experience. Thankfully this is not the case here. There are virtually no typos and the story flows easily.

There are more POVs than I normally like to see (we have Jasper, Alice and Emmett as well as the expected Edward and Isabella) but it works. Told from a third person perspective the changing POVs each have a distinctive voice and create the feeling of witnesses giving evidence.

This is an original idea, well structured and consummately told; but what makes or breaks a story, for me, are the characters, and these come vividly to life.

Central to the plot (so far at least) is the passionate, emotionally flawed relationship between Edward and Tanya which explodes from the page. Edward’s behavior is callous and manipulative but the detailed rationale from his POV makes sense even though we know it is all wrong. His insatiable appetite for passion (which he only seems to be able to access through anger) seems a manifestation of his need to feel alive, to feel anything. At one and the same time we feel compassion for his pain and frustration at his inept life skills. This increases exponentially when he finds himself charged with Tanya’s murder whilst in an agony of grief over her death. He is forced to reveal his every private act for public scrutiny and judgement by people who know nothing about him. The rawness of his emotions is realistic to the point where the reader feels voyeuristic.

All the characters retain their essential canon characteristics but are by no means caricatures – Jasper as the empathetic friend, Emmett as the good cop, Rose as Bella’s tough yet caring partner and Alice as the loving and perceptive sister. Edward, of course, is emo to the nth degree and I thought it a nice touch that he is also a vegetarian. Bella is much more assertive than canon Bella but steadfast, fair and compassionate. There are hints that she has ‘been through some stuff’ so I think that will play a part later.

This is not a slow burn fic. If you aren’t hooked after the first chapter you probably aren’t going to be, so there is nothing lost by giving it a go. If you like a good story with a bit of mystery and well drawn characters with emotional intensity you will love it.

Thank you Lulubelle28 for reccing it to me.

Kassiah says: I don’t remember who told me to read this story. But ohmygod. Ya’ll know that I don’t want to read a fic that has Edward even thinking of kissing another girl. So it is a testament to the fuckawesomeness of this story that I am telling you to run, don’t walk, to your nearest browser window and open this bitch up.

The story starts off with College Professor and International Bestseller Edward basically getting ready to fuck his longtime girlfriend, Tanya. I hate to admit it, but it is hotttt. There is no question that Edward is an ass though. When confronted with the possibilty of Tanya leaving him because he won’t marry her, he retorts, “You won’t leave. You wouldn’t. I’d have to take back that Audi. You sucked a lot of dick to get it. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste.” ouch. After their almost violent fuckathon, Edward gets up to take a shower and returns to find his girlfriend dead. The way Forbidden-Fruit81 describes the emotions and thoughts that Edward is going through is absolutely amazing.

He calls best friend Jasper Hale, who rushes over and calls the police. Jasper quickly realizes that Edward needs an attorney, “A John-Grisham-novel-meets-Albert Einstein-meets-Tom-Cruise-in-the-Firm -fucking-attorney.” Cue Isabella Swan. Edward isn’t happy about her being his lawyer; he goes so far as to call her “Strawberry Shortcake” The developments to the story follow like a great suspense thriller. As we learn more and more about what happened, we get sucked further in. Although the way the fic is told is different, I agree with dihenydd that the mixed POVs add to rather than distract from the story.

This story is well-written with amazing character development. It mindfucks you and leaves you begging for more. I want Edward and Bella to get it on so bad, there aren’t words. This certainly isn’t the typical type of story that I would read, but I implore you to check it out. You will seriously be missing out if you don’t.