Reilly 02 - Invasion of Privacy (44 page)

BREACH OF PROMISE

BROKEN HEARTS. BROKEN PROMISES.
DEADLY CONSEQUENCES.

In glitzy Lake Tahoe, couples break up every day. But few are as successful as Lindy and Mike Markov, who built a $200-million business together—before Mike took up with a younger woman. Now he’s claiming that he doesn’t owe Lindy a dime since they never married. Attorney Nina Reilly, struggling to make a living in her one-woman office and raise a young son alone, agrees to take Lindy’s case. Nina knows winning is a long shot, even with a brilliant jury consultant and a palimony expert on her side. It’s the kind of case—full of passion and explosive secrets—that could make a fortune for a young lawyer. Or drive someone to commit murder—for love, money ... or the right verdict.

"INGENIOUS ... MOVE OVER, KINSEY.
NINA’S COME TO TOWN!"

—Monterey County Herald

"A LEGAL MYSTERY FOR THOUGHTFUL
READERS ... THE SURPRISE TWISTS ARE
WONDERFULLY EFFECTIVE."

—San Francisco Chronicle

ACTS OF MALICE

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.

"PLEASANTLY TWISTY ... [A] WHAM-BAM,
HEART-RACING CLIMAX."—USA Today

"[O’SHAUGHNESSY’S] BEST COURTROOM
THRILLER TO DATE."

—Kirkus Reviews

MOVE TO STRIKE

Nina Reilly thought she’d seen it all. An attorney and single mother, Nina isn’t afraid to tackle the toughest cases and trickiest defenses. But she is wholly unprepared for her latest client—sixteen-year-old Nicole Zack, rebel, thief, and best friend of Nina’s teenage son, Bob. Did Nikki steal something from her uncle, a prominent plastic surgeon, then kill him in cold blood? To find out, Nina calls in Paul van Wagoner, a P.I. and ex-lover whose bravado conceals a troubling personal secret. As Paul investigates the eerily coincidental death of the surgeon’s son—killed in a plane crash the same night his father was murdered—Nina sorts through the twisting lies surrounding Nikki, uncovering a seething mystery, some enraged former patients, and two very old crimes. Finally, Nina must confront the central question she must answer in order to save her client: What did Nikki really see the night of her uncle’s murder?

"SUSPENSEFUL, ENTERTAINING READING."

—BookPage

"COMPULSIVELY READABLE ...
VERY POSSIBLY HER BEST ...
A PAGE-TURNER THAT WILL
KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT."

—The Drood Review of Mystery

BY PERRI O’SHAUGHNESSY

Acts of Malice
Motion to Suppress
Invasion of Privacy
Obstruction of Justice
Breach of Promise
Move to Strike
Writ of Execution
Unfit to Practice

Published by
Random House, Inc.
a division of
Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1996 by Mary O’Shaughnessy and Pamela O’Shaughnessy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address: Delacorte Press, New York, N.Y.

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Dell paperback edition published in July 1997
Dell paperback reissue publication in June 2001

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eISBN: 978-0-307-42307-8

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