Keep Me Alive: A Trish Maguire Mystery (Trish Maguire Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Natasha Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2004 | Series: Trish Maguire Mysteries

Why did investigative journalist Jamie Maxden die? The coroner says it was suicide. The case is closed. Only one man fights to reopen it. Will Applewood is sure Jamie was about to expose a scandal that would shame the British food industry. But Will is notorious for his conspiracy theories. No one listens to him. In despair he turns to his barrister, Trish Maguire.
Felled by food poisoning in the middle of Will's case against a huge supermarket chain, Trish is ready to believe any story about dangers lurking inside the pretty packaging of the food we eat. Even though she has more than enough to do already with the trial, an attempt to save a child at terrible risk, and plenty of emotional complications of her own, she agrees to help.
Will's campaign takes her deep into the countryside, revealing a world that seems quite different from the metropolitan life she knows. But human nature doesn't change---whatever the environment.
Moving between the ravishing landscape and the grim depths of the inner city, trying to save lives and sanity, inexhaustible Trish is driven into a crusade---both personal and professional---that combines excitement, drama, and agonizing human tragedy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In British author Cooper's gripping sixth mystery to feature ambitious barrister Trish McGuire (after 2003's A Place of Safety), Trish joins the prosecution team in a class-action lawsuit against one of Britain's largest food-store chains. Trish finds she has more than a professional interest when she and her friend, Insp. Caro Lyalt, are victims of food poisoning. With Caro in hospital, Trish undertakes her own investigation of the meat trade, with one of the members of the class action as cohort. She also takes on Kim Bowlby, a young child in Caro's protective custody. With the men in her life vacationing on the other side of the world, Trish is free to carry on a flirtation with the Head of Chambers, who may have something more serious in mind. The suspense builds, as Cooper deftly interweaves the several plot lines. Is the person whose help she enlists in looking into the meat trade as trustworthy as Trish supposes? What terror keeps Kim mute? Anglophiles will enjoy the glimpses of the Inns of Court and the British civil court system, though some may scratch their heads at the more obscure British legalese (e.g., "to take silk"). More attractive and sympathetic than Insp. Jane Tennyson of Mystery! fame, Trish is a natural for adaptation by British TV.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Barrister Trish Maguire is working a case on a no-win, no-fee basis. Her clients are a group of small food producers who contend that they were cheated by supermarket giant Furbishers Foods. The producers were led to believe they had lucrative contracts with Furbishers only to find the terms changed after they expanded their businesses to meet the projected demand. Will Applewood, the most vocal plaintiff, enlists Trish's help to prove that bad meat from Furbishers is reaching consumers. Trish is sympathetic until she begins to wonder if Will's obsession with the cause has affected his judgment. While trying to win her case, Trish, who formerly worked with abused children, is also asked to interview a young girl, the possible victim of abuse by her stepfather. Details of the English court system, child-protection laws, and the meatpacking industry add to the story. Trish is a principled, sympathetic character, and this fast-paced mystery, the sixth in a series, finds her in good form. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312335911
• ISBN-13: 978-0312335915
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,858,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars solid investigative legal thriller, September 29, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keep Me Alive: A Trish Maguire Mystery (Trish Maguire Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In London barrister Trish Maguire works as Junior to Antony Shelley as they represent a group of small food producers in a "no win, no fee" breach of contract civil suit against the ruthlessly run giant Furbishers Food supermarket chain. The clients insist the chain tendered profitable contracts that led to the firms over extending themselves, but the supermarket giant acted in bad faith just enough to cause bankruptcy.

Meanwhile Trish and her friend Caro Lyalt suffer food poisoning from tainted sausage. This sends Will Applewood, who has the hots for Trish, to investigate the bad bangers. He traces a trail of spoiled carcasses sent from Kent to Normandy for processing, but a reporter covering the scam is murdered. Trish begins to have doubts about one of her clienst who seems to have either gone over the edge, but to verify this may prove deadly even as she works a second case involving child abuse.

KEEP ME ALIVE is an insightful look at the meat processing industry (at least in the European Union though America is probably similar) that will stun readers with the process. The story line is action-packed in and out of the court room so that the audience receives a solid investigative legal thriller in which the barrister may be the star but is not the prime investigator. Trish's second client adds depth as the barrister has to find time to do justice to both cases. Although allusions to Trish's past are sprinkled throughout the novel, these are never adequately explained so that the audience has no anchor. Still this is a fabulous exposé that will keep readers chewing long after finishing.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trish Maguire has her hands full., December 11, 2004

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keep Me Alive: A Trish Maguire Mystery (Trish Maguire Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Natasha Cooper's new Trish Maguire mystery, "Keep Me Alive," is a mixture of intrigue, action, and psychological suspense. Trish is a talented barrister who, along with her head of chambers, Antony Shelley, is trying a case on behalf of Will Applewood and other British food producers. Applewood and his fellow plaintiffs are claiming that a large supermarket chain breached a verbal contract with them. It is a complex and messy case, and Trish becomes more emotionally involved in the outcome than she should.

While her lover is away on holiday, Trish is living alone and loving it. However, her tranquility is shattered when she and a close friend, Caro, come down with a case of food poisoning. Trish gets off lightly, but Caro's case is quite serious and potentially life threatening. Trish also gets embroiled in the investigation of a journalist's mysterious death that may be tied to a scandal in the meat industry. Finally, Trish is asked to interview a little girl named Kim who may be the victim of serious abuse at home.

Natasha Cooper skillfully balances all of her plot elements and she fleshes out her characters with care. Trish comes across as supremely confident and self-contained, but when she interviews Kim, she remembers her own sad and damaging childhood. Trish understands only too well how this terrified little girl feels. Will Applewood, the plaintiff in Trish's case, is a vulnerable man whose livelihood hangs in the balance. If his court case fails, he is in danger of losing not only his income but also his dignity. Cooper focuses a great deal on Will and she brings a feeling of immediacy to his story that makes it seem real and poignant.

Cooper's dialogue is sharp, and whether her scenes take place in a courtroom or in a remote field with villainous thugs up to no good, she brings credibility to her writing. Natasha Cooper is a versatile author who is also a terrific storyteller, and "Keep Me Alive" is a fast moving and involving thriller.