What happens when a novel is treated like evidence?

The Book on Trial puts published fiction through a forensic manuscript audit, examining the details that have to reconcile for a story to play fair with its readers: chronology, character knowledge, geography, historical facts, physical evidence, continuity, logic, and the countless small claims hidden inside a finished novel.

Each episode begins with The Brief, an overview of the book and the case before us. The Deep Dive examines what the audit uncovered and the changes it proposed. Then The Debate asks the question that matters most: did correcting the manuscript actually make the novel better, or was the original sometimes the better piece of writing?

Hosted by novelist and former forensic accountant Marisa Paxon, The Book on Trial is less about judging authors than examining how stories hold together when every detail is asked to account for itself.

Because a great story can misdirect the reader.

It just has to play fair.

Find Marisa Paxon here:

https://www.marisapaxon.com/