Attorney Nina Reilly has appeared in 7 previous books by the O’Shaughnessy sisters and she is the archetypal lone wolf lawyer, divorced, and bringing up a son. She practices in South Lake Tahoe, California. As a legal procedural this book (and presumably the others) definitely benefits from the legal experience of Pamela O’Shaughnessy. Courtroom confrontations are crisp, seem accurately delineated and show the continual duel between prosecution and defense.
In Unfit to Practice the starting point for the events at the heart of the book is Nina’s own mistake. It seems that a small sin of omission has led to the theft of her briefcase containing 3 highly confidential files for ongoing cases of varying types. Things get worse and worse in a nightmare battle against an unknown opponent who seems bent on the destruction of the clients’ reputations and that of Nina herself. As her ex-husband describes her Nina is the sort of lawyer the USA needs ‘dirty-kneed, trudging through the trenches,’ but as the book’s title suggests that career is under threat. Nina becomes the defendant in a Court hearing. She shows her frustration at the necessity of leaving her defence in the hands of someone else.
The ramifications of the book are considerable but the authors show great skill
in weaving the different stories together. Nina is an appealing character as
she deals with these harsh results of her small and uncharacteristic piece of
carelessness. She is someone whom one can respect and sympathise with - a working
mother with a teenage son and a professional who fights valiantly for her clients
because she cares about them. Insight into her background and training is given
occasionally to contribute to a fuller picture of her. This novel is skillfully
written, providing gripping drama in court and outside it. It is no coincidence
that the authors chose Perri as their pseudonym – the tribute to a famous Perry
is deliberate!
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Jennifer Palmer
Two previous books in the series - Move to Strike and Writ of Execution-
are definitely available in the UK. The earlier 5 books, which may be harder
to obtain, are, in order, Motion to Suppress, Invasion of Privacy, Obstruction
of Justice, Breach of Promise and Acts of Malice.