Acts of Malice (Wheeler Large Print Compass Series) - Hardcover

Nobody in the exploding field of legal thrillers catches the day-to-day life of a working lawyer better than the O'Shaughnessy sisters--lawyer Pamela and writer Mary, who collaborate under the joint byline of Perri. This is the fifth in their series about lawyer Nina Reilly. O'Shaughnessy expertly balances Reilly's life between the working half and the private half (raising her 16-year-old son as a single mother and finding the time and place for romance). The fact that both parts take place in the heavenly venue of Lake Tahoe only adds to the reading pleasure.

Acts of Malice begins with a jolt: the manager of one of the area's largest ski resorts is charged with the murder of his brother, and hires Nina to defend him. But this will not be an easy case for Nina since the prosecutor, Collier Hallowell, is the man who shook up her life so violently by walking out on her a year before. Also, Nina and her immediate circle find themselves in danger from the very client that they are defending.

Other examples of the O'Shaughnessy expertise include Breach of Promise and Motion to Suppress. --Dick Adler

The New York Times bestselling Nina Reilly novels have dazzled both readers and critics with their crackling blend of raw legal suspense and taut human drama. Now Perri O'Shaughnessy, hailed as "smart" "gripping" and "complex" by the San Francisco Chronicle, brings us her best -- and most explosive -- Nina Reilly novel yet.

Amid the sparkling snow-swept mountains of Lake Tahoe, Nina Reilly has made a home, juggling the demands of her one-woman law practice and raising a teenage son alone. Now Nina has taken on a case that will threaten everything she holds dear, drawing her into a tangled web of loyalties and alliances within one of Lake Tahoe's most prominent families. Her client: a man accused of murdering his own brother -- on the ski slopes of Tahoe. The law says Nina must give Jim Strong the best possible defense. But Strong's family has turned violently against him, and suddenly Nina is at the center of the storm. As she works a flawed and troubling case and gets swept into an unexpected love affair, the two sides of Nina's life come crashing together...in the ultimate act of malice.