Unlucky in Law

June 14, 2004
In this 10th installment in O'Shaughnessy's series featuring spunky California lawyer Nina Reilly (Motion to Suppress
; Invasion of Privacy
), Nina has moved herself and 14-year-old son Bob from their usual Tahoe turf to the Monterey Peninsula to spend time with her lover, PI Paul van Wagoner. Paul has asked Nina to marry him, offering a big diamond to seal the deal. Nina puts him off while she prepares for a big trial: she's newly employed at Pohlmann, Cunningham, and Turk, and her first case, working with Klaus Pohlmann, is defending 28-year-old Stefan Wyatt, charged with murder and grave robbing. O'Shaughnessy has been accused of sloppy plotting in the past, but not so here. Russian émigré Constantin Zhukovsky, dead more than 20 years, used to tell friends and family of being a young page to Czar Nicholas II. Now the deadly ramifications of these stories have rippled down to the present. As for the damning evidence that Stefan's blood was found at the scene of the murder? O'Shaughnessy comes up with the neatest solution to that classic puzzle in recent thriller memory. Agent, Nancy Yost.
(July 13)

Forecast:
Readers of the legal ladies genre (some of whom thought O'Shaughnessy's last was not up to snuff) will judge this one a winner and buy appropriately.

March 1, 2004
Nina Reilly's client is accused of grave robbing but swears he's innocent of doing in the corpse he dug up.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2004
The popular sister duo behind the O'Shaughnessy pseudonym returns with another tale about the legal battles Nina Reilly fights for her odd assortment of clients. Away from her comfortable Lake Tahoe home and practice, Nina finds herself in California wine country, helping an old friend with a case. Nina's boyfriend, Paul von Wagoner, is just as pleased as he can be, for Monterey is where he hopes Nina will settle down with him as his wife. Nina has no time for such romantic notions, however, as her attempt to defend one of the unluckiest young men she has ever met is fraught with problems. Her client was caught grave digging--something he readily admits to doing for some quick cash--but he uncovered a second body that had been dumped in the grave, and now he stands accused of murdering that interloper. Fake bomb scares, an unhelpful Russian family, and untrusting colleagues all serve to complicate matters for Nina but make this courtroom drama entertaining. The key strength of this series is the pleasurable mix of a single mother's struggle to find love and happiness with her talents at preparing and trying cases. O'Shaughnessy fans will be pleased with this addition. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)