Breach of Promise [Hardcover]

Perri O'Shaughnessy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 1998

New York Times bestselling author Perri O'Shaughnessy has won the acclaim of critics nationwide for her complex, suspenseful legal thrillers that feature one of the most interesting heroines in legal suspense fiction today. Nina Reilly is a tough, tenderhearted, and unpredictable Lake Tahoe attorney with a one-woman practice, a young son, a genuine sense of humor, and an interesting love life. Now, in Breach of Promise, Nina takes on the biggest case of her career, a high-profile, high-stakes palimony suit that could make her millions or ruin her financially. Little does she suspect that it will place her dead center in a bizarre and perplexing murder investigation.

At glitzy Lake Tahoe, couples break up every day, but none quite so glamorous or successful as Lindy and Mike Markov. The scenario starts off in the standard way: Mike's met a younger woman and wants out. The problem? Mike and Lindy built a $200-million business together and Mike claims he doesn't owe Lindy a dime since they never married.

Ready to fight, Lindy hires Nina Reilly to represent her in her palimony suit. Lacking the resources to handle a case with stakes this high, Nina hires an expert litigator in palimony law, who in turn brings in a jury consultant to ensure that the makeup of the jury is to their advantage. Now Nina's working with a desperate, unstable client and slick big-city legal professionals on the kind of case—full of passion, raw emotion, and explosive secrets--that could make a fortune for a struggling lawyer. Or drive someone to commit a shocking murder—for love, money. . . or the right verdict.

With all of the storytelling power, authentic legal detail, and insight into the dark recesses of the human heart that have made her the hottest woman writer of legal thrillers, Perri O'Shaughnessy takes readers into the courtroom and far beyond it in her latest masterpiece of legal suspense.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fans who have been eagerly awaiting the next installment in the Nina Reilly series won't be disappointed by Perri O'Shaughnessy's latest, Breach of Promise. The creator of Invasion of Privacy and Obstruction of Justice has crafted a tale of love and murder gone awry in the material age.

Palimony--birds do it, bees do it, Liberace's heirs do it, and so do Mike and Lindy Markov. When Mike falls for Rachel, a young and beautiful vice president at Markov Enterprises, he tells Lindy (his companion and business partner of many years) that their relationship is over, leaving her, in effect, to go soak her head in one of the Markov Super Spas they've invented and sold to countless arthritics. Desperate to retain her fair share of their $250 million fortune, Lindy hires Nina to pursue a palimony suit against Mike, tempting her with an enormous percentage if they win their case.

O'Shaughnessy thus leads into the deceptively simple, deeply disturbing philosophical conundrum around which she weaves her tale of intrigue: What would you--what would anyone--do for money? As Nina pursues her case, O'Shaughnessy tests the boundaries of traditional courtroom-drama fiction by playing with the conventions of narrative form, but she remains true to the genre's ethic of devious surprises and fast-paced action.

Granted, Nina is a lawyer rather than a private investigator, and her smooth style bears little resemblance to, say, the sardonic goofiness of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, but she may strike a chord with fans of Sara Paretsky's Chicago sleuth, V.I. Warshawski. Both Nina and V.I. cling stubbornly to their independence and sense of fairness as they wage battle against institutionalized forces of greed; and both O'Shaughnessy and Paretsky use engaging characters, tight plotting, and clever dialogue to lure their readers into wrestling with legal and moral dilemmas. --Kelly Flynn

From Publishers Weekly

Nina O'Reilly, the solo Tahoe lawyer with an attitude, is back. So are her loyal but surly assistant, Sandy, and her oddly detached lover, ex-homicide dick Paul. This time the legal issue is palimony. Wealthy, aggressive Mike Markov tells his wife, Lindy, that he's leaving her to marry a young employee of the business Mike and Lindy have built together. Lindy, a maverick not averse to keeping secrets from her own attorney, hires O'Reilly to bring suit against Mike for half the businessAreckoned in millions. Mike hires a shark, Jeffrey Riesner, who makes O'Reilly feel so outclassed that she hires smooth co-counsel Winston ReynoldsAwho turns out to be an addicted gambler. The case is much bigger than any O'Reilly has tried before, and it plunges her into a tangle of reversals, deceits and snarly legal traps that the authorAactually two sisters writing under the pseudonym O'Shaughnessy (Obstruction of Justice)Ahandles adroitly, snapping out plenty of twists on the legal and moral sides of a midlife crisis. Although the jury deliberations drag and the action-adventure climax in boats on Lake Tahoe is unbelievable, O'Shaughnessy's courtroom strategies and her characters' idiosyncrasies keep ringing true. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; 1ST edition (June 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385318723
• ISBN-13: 978-0385318723
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,361,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Perri O'Shaughnessy yet!, June 21, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breach of Promise (Hardcover)

When intrepid Tahoe lawyer Nina Reilly takes on a palimony suit, even she cannot imagine the twists and turns that may well determine both her own Fate and that of her client, Lindy Markov. With the prospect of netting huge profits warring against her fierce sense of morality, Nina faces an uphill battle against her arch-rival - defense attorney, Jeffrey Riesner - in a case that could literally make or break her.

A page-turner from start to finish, BREACH OF PROMISE shines as O'Shaughnessy's best mystery to date. As in the three earlier novels, O'Shaughnessy skillfully weaves together a fast-paced, multi-layered plot that never feels forced or contrived. With enough intrigue and surprise to keep any reader guessing, BREACH OF PROMISE cuts to the heart of the basic dichotomy between men and women without bogging down in sentiment or cliché.

Surrounded by a fascinating cast of characters, all wonderfully distinctive and deftly drawn, Nina Reilly remains refreshingly appealing and real. Both tough and vulnerable, she soldiers on through triumph and adversity alike without ever surrendering her values to expedience. And her droll self-deprecations, her wariness of commitment, and her insecurities about parenthood only render her all the more endearing.

A wonderful story and a compelling mystery, BREACH OF PROMISE should be on everyone's summer reading list.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, fast paced read!, June 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Breach of Promise (Mass Market Paperback)

As a first time reader of Nina O'Reilly, I had a hard time putting this book down. Also, as a former resident and casino worker in Lake Tahoe I enjoyed the references to real places. I found her characters to be well-written and while I didn't like them all, I felt that I knew them personally. The story and plot lines were interesting, and I didn't figure out whodunit until the end. I intend to go back and read the previous Nina O'Reilly books now!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whew!, May 1, 2002

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breach of Promise (Mass Market Paperback)

I just finished "Breach of Promise," and I am literally breathless. What a ride!

The story begins fairly routinely, as Nina Reilly is hired to represent an incredibly wealthy woman, Lindy Markov, in a palimony suit. Knowing that such suits are notorious losers, but intrigued by the circumstances of the case--and by the money--Nina agrees to defend Lindy, and immediately finds herself in over her head.

In order to compete in such a visible, high-stakes trial, Nina is forced to compromise some of her deeply held values, and to hire a fancy LA jury consultant, the obnoxiously confident Genevieve Suchat. She also hires an equally fancy co-counsel, high-profile LA lawyer Winston Reynolds. When (or if) they win their case, all three stand to become multimillionaires. But in the meanwhile, small-town lawyer Nina is footing the bill and running close to bankruptcy.

The pretrial proceedings proceed apace, except that Nina is not in control, and not happy with everything her glossy compatriots are doing. She knows she needs Winston and Genevieve both--but she's not happy about it. Once the trial starts, Nina struggles to keep her sense of balance while trying to keep up not only with her new coworkers--but with Lindy Markov herself, who seems to be prone to lies and subterfuge, all of which emerge as scandalous surprises in court.

Nina is in too far to back down, especially as her opposing counsel is the feociously obnoxious and self-satisfied Jeff Reisner, who delights in any humiliation he can throw her way. Even Nina's lover and confidante Paul is becoming difficult, as he sees what he considers to be an erosion of Nina's usual values. It looks like Nina is about to lose the trial, her reputation, her lover, and all her money.

That's when a completely unforeseen twist changes the fortunes of everyone involved. And the spiraling, out-of-control incidents that follow this surprise continue to proliferate until the last sentence of the last page, leaving the reader literally gasping for air.

This is truly a five-star read. I'd give it ten stars if I could. You want a book you can't put down? A book that will keep you happily oblivious to your immediate surroundings and your normal life? "Breach of Promise" is definitely it.