Reviewed By Lucinda E Clarke for Readers' Favorite

The Advocate’s Illusion by Teresa Burrell is the ninth in a series featuring the feisty and loveable Sabre Brown together with her long-suffering boyfriend JP, who doubles up as her private investigator. Ron, her brother, is also a part time member of the team. An interesting twist on the more common legal thriller, Sabre’s speciality is working for juveniles often when Social Services are involved, and in this book there are three such cases. Nine-year-old Sarah Parker is reported as being in danger living with her drug-addicted mother. In the Lynch case, the father, Tod, whose ex-wife with full custody moved away, cannot visit them and is incensed when he hears she is back on the drugs. He blames Sabre for the situation and threatens her. In the third case, the head of a small church marries his 12-year-old daughter to a forty-year-old member of his congregation. Does he have the legal right under the First Amendment? The stage is set for some interesting reading as Sabre attempts to get to the truth and argue in court for the best interests of the children she represents.

I can give no better praise for The Advocate’s Illusion by Teresa Burrell than to say I shall be looking out for the earlier books in the series, as I would like to read all of them. This was an easy read which kept me turning the pages. The characters – the heroine has a rather unbelievable name – come to life and I was particularly impressed with the natural dialogue which flowed seamlessly. I admit to guessing the end a little early but I had to read on to see if I was right. All the loose ends were neatly tied up with a satisfactory ending. A great book with a twist on the usual court room drama genre and recommended. I loved this book.

Reviewed By Keyla Damaer for Readers' Favorite

This classic legal thriller by N. Lombardi Jr. takes place between New Jersey and New York. Justice Gone shows from the start the huge flaws in the American legal system, based on politics, which most of the time doesn’t care about justice. And as we see from the first meeting of the city council, after the opening episode of Jay’s beating and death by law enforcement, most members of the council have only one goal. To hush up everything before it explodes in their faces and they have to pay the consequences. Not once do they seem to be interested in finding out the truth. They hide an important piece of evidence from the jury and choose the best way to save their position. And even after the murder of the three police officers, during the trial we are shown by the behaviour of the jury that having common people deciding on the life of an individual leads to absurd results when there is not a single piece of evidence against the defendant.

N. Lombardi Jr.’s excellent prose leads the leader through a breathtaking thriller and even though there are little clues along the way about who’s the killer, I didn’t know until the end. My favourite character is Nathaniel Bodine, the defendant’s lawyer. He’s not the main character. The way he explains how the trial works clearly shows the State is not looking after the truth and the jury, being sequestered, only wants to end the trial as soon as possible. It’s understandable: they can’t go home, they can’t read the newspapers, they can’t use the internet. They can’t use their phones. It’s like they’re in prison too. And Bodine says it all in a few words: it is all about blame. I recommend Justice Gone to readers who like a thought-provoking legal thriller.

Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Tropical Doubts is a legal thriller novel written by David Myles Robinson. Pancho had lost three criminal trials in a row and was starting to doubt himself. He had known this last client was guilty, but he had taken on the case for his best friend and private eye, Drew Tulafono, as a personal favor. On top of that, his girlfriend, Paula Mizono, had decided to take a job in Hong Kong, citing her concerns that they never seemed to have time to spend together. Things were about to get even worse for him, however, when he received the awful news that Giselle Delacruz was in a coma following a surgical procedure and would be brain-dead even if she did wake up. Manny and Giselle were like family to Pancho and had been so for the twenty years he had known them. Manny needed answers and wanted Pancho to find them for him. And while Pancho was not versed in the practice and procedure for medical malpractice cases, he was determined to do his best for his two friends.

Tropical Doubts is a fast-paced and well-written crime fiction novel that takes the reader through every step of the investigation, pre-trial and trial aspects of both medical malpractice and criminal law. I loved how carefully Robinson manages to do this while also keeping the story fresh, compelling and original. An added bonus with this book is the marvelous attention Robinson pays to sharing the Hawaiian environment and culture with the reader. I loved experiencing, if vicariously, Pancho’s time on his surfboard and his beach time in the tropical paradise he calls home. Robinson’s characters are finely delineated and credible, and his plot is solid and well crafted. Tropical Doubts: A Pancho McMartin Legal Thriller is most highly recommended.

Reviewed By Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

How far would you go to protect a beloved family member from the truth? When Kyle Cameron, protagonist of Blood Relations, discovers that his well-respected and prominent lawyer father, Jake, is having an affair with one of the beautiful female lawyers in the firm, he comes up with a radical plan to protect his fragile mother from learning the truth. But when that beautiful lawyer is found brutally murdered, and Jake is the primary suspect, Kyle now has the daunting task of defending a father who has little faith in his legal skills.

Blood Relations by Edward Cohen and Kathy Cohen offers a complex, but not unrealistic plot that grips readers from beginning to end, and just when readers think they know who actually killed the beautiful Laura ... surprise, surprise! But as engaging as the plot and trying to figure out who did the deed are the personalities of the key characters. Kyle is forever trying to meet his father’s expectations, to earn his respect, not to mention his love. There is ongoing competition between father and son, and what Kyle lacks in legal skills, he makes up for by bedding as many women as he can. So expect some scenes steamier and stickier than the New Orleans humidity.

Being a legally based story, there are some interesting insights into how the justice system works, along with how much is not as it seems, or should be. This is the world of the wealthy: money, power and reputations are always at stake and murderers aren’t the only criminals. If Blood Relations sounds like your kind of reading, don’t hesitate to pick up this novel: you won’t be able to put it down.

Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Fountain of Revenge is a work of dramatic thriller fiction in a legal setting and was penned by author Richard Dodge Davidson. Combining cultural mysteries with high powered firms and shady dealers who will stop at nothing to make a discovery, the central plot revolves around a mysterious formula that, in the Cherokee Nation’s belief system, is purported to extend natural life. Our heroes are Mixie Cooper and Rod Larren, two green attorneys from New York who are sent to procure this formula by their firm. But they soon learn that they are not the only ones in the fight for the formula for extended life, and the danger around them sets in fast.

What begins as a legal and pharmacological mystery develops into an interpersonal drama between the central pair, as well as a dangerous action and adventure romp. The combination of these many genres works well and keeps the interest of the reader, whilst the fight for the formula stays central and consistent in the plot. I enjoyed the Georgia based setting and the inclusion of Cherokee beliefs and practices, which were intelligently and sensitively depicted to add atmosphere and cultural variance to the tale. Mixie and Rod are a cute pair to lead the action, whose involvement with one another both helps and hinders them as they learn the ropes the hard way when the case does not go as planned. Overall, author Richard Dodge Davidson has done a fine job with Fountain of Revenge, producing an engaging and dramatic work of legal thriller fiction.

Reviewed By Caitlyn Lynch for Readers' Favorite

Do Not Ask is Elaine Williams Crockett’s second book about former FBI agent turned federal judge Warren Alexander. Now the Supreme Court’s newest judge, Justice Alexander is drawn into the investigation when the President’s twin daughters go missing after visiting Alexander’s playboy son-in-law’s estate. A scandal threatens when it emerges that the twins may have been blackmailing prominent married men with sex tapes, and Alexander must team up with his former FBI partner to find out what happened. The twins aren’t the only missing women in DC, though, and when one of Alexander’s law clerks is the next to disappear, he finds himself under suspicion and must race against time to clear his name and discover the true culprit… before his own daughter becomes the killer’s next victim.

This is a brilliantly written and researched whodunit with so many twists and turns I never knew what was coming next. The author has done her research superbly, with knowledge of the inner workings of DC’s political system as well as a thorough understanding of the law and its procedures. There is a small section (during a murder trial in which Alexander is defending the accused) where the descriptions of how exactly DNA analysis and comparisons work where things got a little esoteric for the layperson to understand, but it was detail that was actually pivotal to the plot and the author took the time to break it down carefully for the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed the explanations, and the expert ‘court testimony’ in which they were presented. I must also congratulate the author on the quality of editing and proofreading which has been applied to this novel.

Elaine Williams Crockett has a deep understanding of the culture in which she chooses to set her stories, and this shows through in that no part of the narrative ever feels far-fetched or unlikely. Even the most unexpected twists are still completely logical within the wider context of the story, though nothing was so predictable that I lost interest. As a political/crime thriller, this was one of the most intriguing and well-written I’ve ever had the privilege of reading. If you love a good whodunit full of salacious details and clever twists, you really shouldn’t miss this one. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Reviewed By Lex Allen for Readers' Favorite

The Advocate’s Geocache by Teresa Burrell is the seventh novel in The Advocate Series. Sabre Brown, an attorney advocate for children in California, has a busy life that gets even busier when her newest hobby, geocaching, turns up an official death certificate dated ten days in the future. Sabre can’t resist the lure of this mystery and she enlists the aid of her current boyfriend, JP Torn, a private detective, and her best friend, fellow attorney Bob Clark, to track and solve the puzzle. Unable to stop the murder, the chase becomes a hunt for the killer and there are several suspects, not the least of whom could be one of her current court cases.

Jumping into the middle of a long running series is often difficult as there is no connection to the development of the characters and the author may assume the books will be read in order. The Advocate’s Geocache is a rare exception in that Burrell, a skilled and experienced author, deftly introduces each character with short, concise narrative that instantly captures the reader’s empathy, sympathy or dislike. Of particular delight for me was the efficiency with which the author weaves the ups and downs of everyday personal relationships into the main murder mystery plot, with effortless skill and realism. Last, but not least, the near inevitable series cliffhanger, often so steep you’re left wondering where the hell it came from, is totally absent in The Advocate’s Geocache. This tale ends conclusively and satisfactorily. As a new fan of Teresa Burrell, I suspect the same can be said for all of her books. I intend to find out.

Reviewed By Patricia Reding for Readers' Favorite

Settling in to read a murder mystery is always a satisfying experience, and with A Murder on Wall Street by Owen Parr, it is also an enjoyable one. In it, readers discover some lovable key characters in the form of Joey Mancuso, a former NYPD homicide detective who left the force in the midst of some “cooked up” charges with Internal Affairs, and his older half-brother, Father Dom, who loves solving mysteries and who is beloved by those around him as a priest with a keen understanding that if he lives his life as a testimony to others, he needn’t preach to them. Together the brothers own Captain O’Brian’s Irish Pub and Cigar Bar in Manhattan’s Financial District. There they meet a wide variety of patrons and from there, they work together to identify the guilty parties behind a series of crimes, beginning with a murderous shove of someone from a high rise, and quickly moving on to the hit and run murder of one of their key witnesses. Add in some financial thugs who’ve been running a Ponzi scheme, a Marilyn-Monroe lookalike with a string of assumed names, and the varied puzzle pieces, with some intriguing angles, eventually come together.

Owen Parr has created a couple of appealing characters in Joey and Father Dom. They both display caring for one another and for Joey’s love interest, Marcy, for the patrons of their bar, and for their wider community. I appreciated Joey’s sense of humor and found Father Dom a quick favorite. Add in the rush of activity of Manhattan’s Financial District and some information that makes understandable some basic background principles of the financial world (such as how a Ponzi scheme works), and the story achieves depth. While the reason the brothers took on the mystery in the beginning (they didn’t have a client, they just didn’t think the conclusions the NYPD reached were in line with the facts as they knew them), and the method the brothers use to disclose the wrongdoers (a meeting with all of the interested parties, held at their bar), were both a bit unorthodox, the approach was certainly unique. This story moves right along, providing readers with an enjoyable getaway with characters they’re sure to want to revisit in other books in Owen Parr’s crime mystery series.

Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

The Amazon Detective Agency: A Murder Novel is a sleuth murder mystery novel written by Patrick Oster. Mel McGinty had been working the overnight shift as part of the Supreme Court’s police force for eighteen months when she discovered Oliver Wendell Oglethorpe’s body in the building’s private gym and basketball court. Mel’s real love was her private detective agency, which she hoped one day to make a self-supporting enterprise, but until then the Supreme Court gig had worked quite well. The veteran military police officer and former beat cop with the Arlington P.D. instinctively knew the FBI was wrong in considering Oglethorpe’s death to be from natural causes. There were too many different variables. For one thing, the pending decision on the presidential election would have massive repercussions, and Oglethorpe was sure to vote in a way that conservative President Fett would not be pleased with. There were any number of persons and groups interested in seeing the conservative president remain in power, with the opportunity to appoint more right-wing Supreme Court justices. McGinty was determined to look further into what she saw was the mystery of Oglethorpe’s death, and she would do it, with or without the approval of her superior.

Patrick Oster’s years spent as a U.S. Supreme Court reporter and the editor-in-chief of the National Law Journal give The Amazon Detective Agency a sense of authenticity and immediacy that will attract the attention of anyone who’s wondered at the impact of elections on judicial appointments, and decried the disgraceful decision the Supreme Court reached in Bush v. Gore. Throughout the book, there’s the tension and detail one would expect to find in a political thriller, which makes this murder mystery even more enjoyable. Oster’s McGinty is a welcome look back at the hard-boiled detective; one who has no issues with working outside the system when necessary to get to the answers. The author gives McGinty and the reader plenty of red herrings to consider in solving the mystery, and getting to that solution is great fun indeed. This well-written and thoroughly engaging murder mystery is most highly recommended.

Reviewed By Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

The brilliant end to a brilliant story. The Brilliant Game by A. Gavazzoni is the third and last novel in the Hidden Motives series. I am a little sad to see that this is the last novel in the series, but at the same time I am very happy to see that A. Gavazzoni did an amazing job with wrapping up a very complex and interesting story. The story continues the life and struggles of Simone Bennet, a gifted psychiatrist who got caught in the world of lies, deceit and malicious intent when she decided to help a lawyer find the real killer of a woman named Lara.

After being kidnapped by a serial killer, Simone is back in her old life, trying to help some of her patients while still working with Cal who brought all this into her life. Her life is not stable, especially now that her daughter has been kidnapped and she, Edward (her boyfriend), the police and the FBI are trying to find her daughter. In the meantime, Simone is also trying to decode and decipher more of Lara’s story and find out what happened in the life of this enigmatic young woman. Simone’s conflicted feelings for Cal, her desire to find her daughter, and discover more about Lara is driving her mad. Is there any end to her story? Can she finally find out what happened to Lara? Can she find her daughter?

As always, A. Gavazzoni blew me away with her brilliant storytelling and her ability to take me on a journey with Simone. I was eagerly anticipating what she would bring in the third novel and how she would end Simone’s story. I enjoyed Simone’s journey, her development and how real she is. A. Gavazzoni’s characters are very real, they seem to breathe with every word and come to life on every page. I simply adore this author and the way she writes.