Search - Breach of Promise (Nina Reilly, Bk 4)

Right from the start of this book, I was outraged that a man who made millions, with the help of his wife, could toss her aside and leave her penniless! My feminine claws came out and I was ready to fight alongside Nina Reilly for justice. Then, greed for a piece of the fortune ends in murder and the story takes on a whole new flavor.

Another in the Nina Reilly series set in Lake Tahoe. I found this interesting because it primarily dealt with a trial, which included excellent details as Reilly prepares for a trial that appears to have insurmountable odds of winning. Toward the end, there is a death that turns out to be a case of murder. That provides an interesting denouement and ending. Worth a good, not too demanding, read.

Perri O'Shaughnessy is one of my favorite authors. She writes mysteries that take place in Tahoe (not all that far from where I live) and in the Monterey area (where I lived for over 30 years.) The main character, attorney Nina Reilly, manages to get into the darndest predicaments, I'm often expecting the next moment to be her last! In this particular one, a case of palimony, turns into a case of murder!

Very good book. I enjoy all of the O'Shaughnessy books.

Nina Reilly, a lawyer in Lake Tahoe, gets the case of a lifetime. It takes money to make money and Nina is barely meeting her monthly expenses. She mortgages all property and borrows to the hilt to pay for the trial that make take a year. One surprise after another pops up to complicate things. Her personal life is non-existant. But if she wins this case she will be set for life.

Four stars

This was my first foray into the Nina Reilly world of mysteries. This legal thriller was an intriguing read which included several unexpected plot twists. The story was involving, and included a surprise turn whenever I felt the story was getting cliched, which kept me turning pages, not wanting to put the book down. The story was compelling and modern, and encourages a sympathetic feeling of righteous indignation on the part of the reader, inspiring identification with and sympathy for Nina Reilly's rich client Lindy Markov, in spite of her slight snobbish sense of entitlement. The mystery part of the story was not as interesting to me, as it seemed the more predictable and hackneyed part of the plot. Also, Nina Reilly was interesting as the story heroine and protagonist, but I don't really feel that her personality was compelling enough to make her a very strongly identifiable and unique heroine for an entire series. I wouldn't mind reading more stories with her in it, but do not feel much interest in following her personal storyline and finding out what happens to her in future books.

To summarize, for me, this story was a highly readable and enjoyable legal thriller, a success as a one-shot story. It was somewhat disappointing as a mystery story , and I don't personally see Nina Reilly as a convincing and persuasive Series heroine for future stories.