Nina Rilley is a single mother who needs a big case to keep her practice running. Lindy Markov is the wife of multimillionaire health club-and-products ex-boxer Mike, and the brains behind the man. Together over twenty years, Mike leaves Lindy for a younger woman. Though this looks like a perfect case, Nina discovers problem after problem, starting with the barely-important fact that the Markov's never married.
Despite a disturbing number of hiccups, Nina gets to court, aided by notable trial lawyer Winston Reynolds and jury expert Genevieve Suchat. However, with an unsympathetic judge, her nemesis as opposing counsel, and a jury member with his own agenda, the trial doesn't run as expected, and that's when the real mystery begins.
Threaded through are a relationship subplot (Nina's boyfriend thinks the promise of big money's changing her, and he's offered a job in another state), concerns about neglecting her son for work, and a nice dynamic with Nina's assistant Sandy.
Despite a disturbing number of hiccups, Nina gets to court, aided by notable trial lawyer Winston Reynolds and jury expert Genevieve Suchat. However, with an unsympathetic judge, her nemesis as opposing counsel, and a jury member with his own agenda, the trial doesn't run as expected, and that's when the real mystery begins.
Threaded through are a relationship subplot (Nina's boyfriend thinks the promise of big money's changing her, and he's offered a job in another state), concerns about neglecting her son for work, and a nice dynamic with Nina's assistant Sandy.
Goodness, this has been sitting on my shelves for around eight years! Deciding to alternate new and old books is making inroads in my unread shelves like never before, as I have a tendency to grab at the newer books which are stacked up next to the over-full shelves. And back to the review.I'm pretty sure Breach of Promise is a series book, but the novel easily reads as a stand-alone so that didn't matter. I'm glad I pulled it down, because I enjoyed this story about a sole-practitioner lawyer tantalised by the potential of a big money divorce case.
I thought the jury room scenes were particularly well executed, with the foreman's manipulation subtly yet clearly depicted. I knew fairly early in whodunit, but I think the author's intent was focused more on Nina not knowing, and that was believably done.
One thing I found frustrating was Lindy's obsessional blindness about Mikey, in the face of his (well documented) policy to freeze her out of any claim, his infidelity, and his behaviour toward her. At the same time I can understand how difficult it is to turn off your feelings just because the other person's managed to move on from a relationship you didn't even know was troubled. I think that often, when a character frustrates me like this, it's a sign that they're well written and convincing.
I'm not going to head out and buy the rest of O'Shaughnessy's work, but I'll certainly try another if it crosses my path. - Alex
I thought the jury room scenes were particularly well executed, with the foreman's manipulation subtly yet clearly depicted. I knew fairly early in whodunit, but I think the author's intent was focused more on Nina not knowing, and that was believably done.
One thing I found frustrating was Lindy's obsessional blindness about Mikey, in the face of his (well documented) policy to freeze her out of any claim, his infidelity, and his behaviour toward her. At the same time I can understand how difficult it is to turn off your feelings just because the other person's managed to move on from a relationship you didn't even know was troubled. I think that often, when a character frustrates me like this, it's a sign that they're well written and convincing.
I'm not going to head out and buy the rest of O'Shaughnessy's work, but I'll certainly try another if it crosses my path. - Alex
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