Gagged & Bound: A Trish Maguire Mystery (Trish Maguire Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Natasha Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Series: Trish Maguire Mysteries | Publication Date: August 11, 2005

Barrister Trish Maguire tackles a thirty-year-old terrorism case when distinguished biographer, Beatrice Bowman, hires her to fight a libel claim by a new ennobled member of the House of Lords who says she misidentified him as one of the terrorists who killed a busload of young children.
Meanwhile, Trish’s old friend, Inspector Caro Lyalt, faces an impossible decision---blow the whistle that could end a colleague’s career (and jeopardize her own), or do nothing and never forgive herself. In the running for a fantastic new job within the police force, she learns that a South London crime family is paying off her biggest rival. The villains gag and suffocate anyone who tries to expose their secrets. If the allegations are false, she loses all hope of this job or any other, but if they are true and she does nothing, she’ll live with the guilt forever.
Trish is caught in the middle. As she and Caro help each other find the information they need, Caro’s top informant is shot. Then the body of a young woman turns up in a park, bound, gagged, and suffocated with all the trademarks of a mob killing. And someone is trying to use Trish’s twelve-year-old brother to force her to drop her inquiry. Picking her way through the maze of lies and threats, she brings danger terrifyingly close to herself and the people she loves.
In her seventh thrilling Trish Maguire mystery, Natasha Cooper explores the full destructive power of the wrong words spoken at the wrong time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In British author Cooper's suspenseful seventh Trish Maguire mystery (after 2004's Keep Me Alive), the London barrister agrees to take on a libel case concerning a politician newly raised to the House of Lords who's been named as the instigator of a bombing that killed a busload of children 30 years earlier. When Trish asks her friend Insp. Caro Lyalt for help, she learns that Caro is in need of her aid as well. An informant has told Caro that a candidate for a job for which she's also vying has organized crime connections. The murder of Caro's informant catapults Trish deeper into Caro's case and Trish's 11-year-old half-brother, David, into danger. Putting at risk her seven-year relationship with boyfriend George Henton, a prominent solicitor, the smart, caring and driven Trish delves for information and puts together all the pieces for a satisfying conclusion.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Cooper gives us a double narrative and widened perspective in the seventh installment of the Trish Maguire series: that of barrister Maguire and her close friend, police inspector Caro Lyalt. They both face complicated professional lives that spiral into real danger. It begins with a libel action: a writer who has published a book about the terrorist action that resulted in a busload of children being blown up 30 years ago is sued for libel by a prominent politician, a new member of the House of Lords, who believes he has been identified as one of the terrorists. The writer seeks Maguire's help. Inspector Lyalt is also up against a possible defamation charge. Her rival for a police post may be connected to the Slabbs, a powerful London crime family. An intriguing thriller, as barrister and police inspector battle their biases to try to uncover the truth, even as the action intensifies with a mob killing. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (August 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312349211
• ISBN-13: 978-0312349219
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,161,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for truth under layers of deceit., October 15, 2005

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gagged & Bound: A Trish Maguire Mystery (Trish Maguire Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Natasha Cooper's "Gagged & Bound" brings back Trish Maguire, a driven woman who has a difficult time juggling her personal life with her boyfriend, George, and her demanding job as a barrister. One day, a colleague asks Trish to mollify Beatrice Bowman, a hysterical author who is being sued for libel by an ambitious peer named Lord Simon Tick. Bowman has written a book about a nineteen-year-old radical student activist named Jeremy Marton who went to jail for setting off a bomb that killed and maimed a busload of schoolchildren back in the seventies. Tick is suing Bowman because the author quotes passages from Marton's diary in which he refers to a fellow protester with the code name "Baiborn." This happens to be the name by which Tick is known to his close friends and family. Had Tick been a terrorist himself back in his youth, or is it possible that two separate people both go by this unusual nickname?

Meanwhile, Caro Lyalt, an inspector in the Metropolitan Police force and Trish's close friend, is interviewing for a job as a liaison in the newly formed Serious Organized Crime Agency. Caro is shocked when her friend, Stephanie Taft, a constable known as a whistle blower, is shot shortly after imparting a shocking piece of information to Caro. Stephanie believed that a prominent member of the police force might be on the payroll of the Slabbs, a vicious organized crime family. The Slabbs are famous for their ruthlessness and for the sadistic way in which they punish informers. Caro soon involves Trish in this case, even though she knows that anyone who asks questions about the Slabbs may end up "gagged and bagged," with a stick forced between his teeth and a bag placed over his head until he runs out of oxygen.

"Gagged and Bound" is a dramatic tale of secrets, lies, crime, and corruption, as well as a compelling psychological mystery with a large cast of characters. Trish is a compassionate and tenacious person who acts first and thinks later, much to her boyfriend's consternation. Cooper beautifully depicts Trish's delicate relationship with her sensitive and loving partner, George, as well as with her vulnerable eleven-year-old brother, David, whom she is raising. Although the three have had some rough times, they are slowly beginning to gel as a family. Lord Tick is a slimy social climber who would do anything to preserve his reputation, and the Slabbs are as thuggish and ruthless as their name implies. As the story proceeds, Trish interviews a number of people who are able to shed light on the Baiborn and Slabb cases, and she eventually makes some startling discoveries. Unfortunately, Trish's inquiries draw the unwelcome attention of some unsavory individuals who attempt to frighten her into backing off.

Natasha Cooper has an understated yet powerful writing style. This is a thriller with depth, and reading it is like unpeeling the layers of an onion. As the layers comes off, we learn more about each character's motivations and inner demons, and along with Trish, we discover that the two cases preoccupying her are much more complex than she could ever have imagined when she first began her investigations. Although the conclusion has a few unnecessarily melodramatic elements, "Gagged & Bound" is an involving novel that should find a ready and appreciative audience.

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific English legal thriller, September 28, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gagged & Bound: A Trish Maguire Mystery (Trish Maguire Mysteries) (Hardcover)

New House of Lords member Simon "Baiborn" Tick sues renowned biographer Beatrice Bowman for claiming he was one of the terrorists who killed a bus filled with children three decades ago. Beatrice insists she is right and hires London barrister Trish Maguire to represent her against Simon's libel suit.

At the same time Trish's friend, Police Inspector Caro Lyalt faces a moral dilemma about a rival competing for a job that she wants. Apparently rumors abound that a London crime family is making payoffs to a certain police offer. The accusations have not been proven so if false it would destroy both careers anyway; hers for being a snitch and her opponent by innuendo. On the other hand if true, she will not be able to sleep at night if she remained silent. Caro assists Trish with information on the thirty year old deadly bombing attack while the barrister seeks evidence to either confirm or deny the mob tie.

GAGGED & BOUND is a terrific English legal thriller starring one of the better protagonists of recent years. The story line is fast-paced as readers observe Trish struggling at home with George while working on the libel case and trying to assist her best friend Caro with her quandary. Fans will appreciate this fine tale with an intriguing final twist about justice.

Harriet Klausner