Beyond Reasonable Doubt
Robert Dugoni
383 pages
Thomas & Mercer
Published October 22, 2024
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This is the second book in the Keera Duggan series, about a young chess prodigy turned criminal prosecutor turned defence attorney. I really enjoyed the first one, Her Deadly Game, and his awesome Tracy Crosswhite series, so was looking forward to this, but the glacially slow pace and absence of likeable characters, twists or original ideas meant it’s taken me nearly two weeks to finish – disappointing.
Keera is looking forward to a staycation to recover from a difficult case, when she is summoned to the office to meet a new client by her bossy sister Maggie. She is alarmed to discover that the woman accused of a high profile murder is her childhood frenemy Jenna Bernstein, once a successful businesswoman, who already got away with murder once thanks to Keera’s father Patsy’s wily defence tactics. Now it seems Jenna has killed another colleague, and wants the family firm to get her off again. Can Keera put aside her old bitterness and rivalry to do the best for her client, even when she knows Jenna is a sociopath?
I usually like legal thrillers, but unfortunately this one really isn’t a thriller – it’s more of a legal & police procedural where Keera and her friend and potential love interest Frank Rossi each investigate the murder, sometimes together and sometimes separately, each wanting the truth despite being on opposite sides. There are an awful lot of not very interesting interviews as they learn about Jenna’s toxic and controlling business practices and her relationship with the latest victim. I didn’t even like Keera much – she’s bitchy and passive-aggressive towards her family, manipulative in her legal practice, and her reasons for taking the case make no sense. I would probably give her another chance on the strength of the first book, but was relieved to finally finish this one. Mind you, any Dugoni book is better than average so my rating reflects the comparison to his previous work and I’m sure many readers would still enjoy this. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
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