Quick-take: Moderately Interesting.

Dan's Review

Keera Duggan becomes the defense attorney for a high profile murder that looks to be completely stacked against her. The client is the uber-wealthy investment manager. The victim is the spouse that was (allegedly) shot in the head.

I don't dare write any more previews. Like most crime and suspense novels, each piece of the story is a mini-reveal that captures interest. This book is the same. However, I will write about some very annoying tropes. Of course, the opposing attorney is a former romantic partner of Keera. Excuse me while I vomit. Does every crime novel require something like this? There is enough evidence that the opposing side did not need "to make it personal".

Throughout the book there was a running chess game that Keera was playing online. The book used it as an ongoing allegory to the events happening in the book. Keera is strategizing her case and contemplating moves at the same time in her chess game. I thought it was neat the first few times she moved a piece on the chess board. I did not think the game needed to stay throughout the entire novel. However, it was a minor piece and the author did OK on it.

Also, not really needed, the law firm was a family affair. Dad was the top lawyer and Keera and her siblings were other lawyers or other roles in the family firm. I thought this was another unneeded trope to add more drama to the book.

Score: 4/5. A nice thing about crime novels is that I can rest assured the case will be solved at the end. There was an epilogue at the end. What was once a 3 immediately gets bumped to a 4. Since I seem to be on the constant lookout for standalone books, maybe I should explore this genre more. For better law-oriented novels, I highly recommend John Grisham.