Customer Reviews

Motion to Suppress

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having just read "Motion to Suppress", the first in a series of legal thrillers featuring main character Nina Reilly, I've got the other succeeding books already on my reading list. What I like about this book, aside from it's fast-pace and intriguing plot, is that Nina is depicted as an independent woman with smart business savy, yet one with shortcomings and insecurities. In other words, she's human.

Having just left her husband and a prestigious corporate law firm in San Francisco, Nina relocates to Lake Tahoe where she sets up a private practice. There, she takes her first criminal case, Misty Patterson, accused of murdering her abusive husband. In the meantime, Nina has her own personal issues to resolve, including a pending divorce, and warding off intimidation from a another defense attorney, drivin by male ego, who's use to having the run of the town's clientele.

Other bright and colorful characters include Nina's private investigator friend who has hinted at being more than just colleagues, a sassy and witty secretary who has friends and relatives in high places as well as referrals, and a supportive family with whom she takes temporary residence.

If "Motion to Suppress" is an indication of what's to come, I look forward to more of Perri O'Shaughnessy's books.

Do not start reading Perri O'Shaughnessy unless you want to get addicted. These books about defense lawyer Nine Reilly are excellent! There are familier refences to Lake Tahoe which I really enjoyed. One of the most enjoyable books I have read. Be sure to read the other 3.

I CAN'T BELIEVE SOME OF THE REVIEWS I AM READING ABOUT THIS BOOK, I THOGHT IT WAS VERY WELL WIRTTEN AND IT GOT MY ATTENTION. I LOVED THE ENDING IT HAD THE BEST TWIST TO IT, NO ONE COULS HAVE SEEN THAT COMING. I AM STARTING ON INVASION OF PRIVACY NOW AND I CAN ALREADY TELL THAT IT WILL BE EQUALLY THRILLING.

Let me start by saying that I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this book! It was fast-paced, intelligent, suspenseful and exciting, all the way to the very last page!

I first became interested in this novel after reading the cover story of the August 2002 edition of BOOK PAGE about Mary and Pamela O'Shaughnessey ("Sisters in Crime: Career Crossroads turned Siblings into Co-Authors"). These two women are sisters who use the pen name "Perri O'Shaughnessey" in their wonderfully unique brand of legal thriller - one in which the main character is a female attorney. Even though the O'Shaughnessey sisters have written a number of these novels, I decided to get to know Nina Reilly from the beginning, which is MOTION TO SUPRESS.

I can't remember the last time I was so drawn to a character. Nina Reilly is intelligent and strong-willed while at the same time being as human as the next person in her faults, doubts and desires - this makes her seem so real that one can't help but want to see her succeed. I can't wait to read the next novel!

If you think you've had enough of the typical legal thriller, you'll be pleasantly surprised by this book. Kind of a feminine combination of Grisham, COLUMBO and QUINCY. Have fun with this one - and when you start it, give yourself long stretches of reading time. You won't want to put this one down!

I read this book in only a couple days. What a wonderful combination of two minds, these two sisters make a great team. I was very excited when I found out that there was another "Nina Reilly" book, I called my local bookstore, (before I knew about amazon.com, of course) to see if they had it in and I had them reserve a copy for me. This first Nina Reilly story flows, and has suspense and drama. I loved it

THE PLOT OR PREMISE:
Misty Patterson has problems: an abusive domineering husband and amnesia from her childhood. And now she has a new problem: her husband gets abusive again and she conks him with an Eskimo statue, hard enough seemingly to hurt but not to kill. Then she blacks out. He's found dead a few days later after having been hit a second time with the same statue and dumped in the lake. And Misty doesn't know what happened.

Enter her lawyer, Nina Reilly, who is newly separated from her husband, newly separated from her neat legal firm, and new to the Lake Tahoe area. And her idea of a perfect introduction to the area is NOT a high-stakes murder case where everyone thinks Misty did it. Maybe even Misty herself.

WHAT I LIKED:
The Lake Tahoe community comes alive as do some of the characters -- Nina, herself; Misty; Nina's assistant. Lots of interesting facts about the area and the impact of the lake on a dead body. Well-written, all the characters are real, and adequately developed for the story. In fact, it's an impressive array: Nina's ex-husband on the peripheries along with her brother, sister-in-law, and Nina's son; Paul, her investigator who's warm for her form; a string of Misty's lovers and their very jealous wives and girlfriends; Misty's parents; and a couple of doctors who are trying to help Misty remember her past. A few loose threads are left for the next story in the "series", if it does indeed become a series. And, on the legal side, the solution is handled in an interesting courtroom finale that is not like simple Perry Mason reruns.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The point-of-view switches from Misty to Nina to Paul in various chapters, and the switch does not really develop Misty's or Paul's character enough to justify the switch. Unfortunately, I figured out the three key elements of the "mystery" before the end of the story. Didn't expect the ending, at least not exactly, but I did expect the "baddie". There are a couple of places where it is a little heavy on the "legal" side, interpreting case law, which is a likely result of one of the two authors being a lawyer.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
I figured it out a little early, and I still enjoyed the ride to the end. Interesting combination of story twists and straightforward story-telling. Give it 3.00 lilypads out of 5.00, which is lowered slightly by the lack of mystery, and the problems with the point-of-view changes and concentrating at times too much on the legal side and not enough on the mystery. A good beginning for "Perry O'Shaughnessy", which is a pseudonym for two sisters: Pamela (a lawyer) and Mary O'Shaughnessy (a writer).

Other Information:
- Source: New
- Original date of review: January 2001, updated 2011
- Series: Nina Reilly
- Tags: Crime, Fiction, Legal, Mystery, Police, Professional Detective, Prose

I am just curious to know why I haven't heard of Perri O'Shaughnessy before now. The first book (as I understand this is a continuing series), Motion to Suppress, is a thrilling book with the plot thickening each chapter, and definetley plenty of twists.I just can't believe this book has been out since 1995, and I haven't heard the name before now!! I am so disappointed to have not found the authors (Perri O'Shaughnessy is the pen name for two sisters writing together) earlier! In Motion To Suppress, Nina Reilly is a lawyer who has just opened her own practice in Lake Tahoe. She takes on her first case, which is a wife, named Misty Patterson, who is accussed of killing her husband. The kicker is that Misty remembers hitting him while they were arguing, but doesn't remember anything thereafter. Of course when her husband turns of dead, Misty is to blame. Nina is in a race to find the truth about the murder, and finds lots of "interesting" facts along the way. I overly enjoyed the whole book, right to the very end. The only reason I gave Motion To Suppress one star short of perfect is because the writing is hard to understand and wordy in places, which can be expected since this is the debut novel, and will get better with each novel. Other than that Motion To Supress is a great mystery/thriller that will leave you guessing throughout the whole book, not to mention changing your mind on "who do it" with each passing chapter. Perri O'Shaughnessy is a winner!

William Bernhardt, William Diehl,William Lashner, John Lescroart, Steve Martini,Barbara Parker,Richard Patterson, Stockly Grif and Robert Tanenbaum who also write legal thrillers now have some more competition. The two authors of this novel have interesting characters, intricate plotting and excellent dialogue. I'm hooked. I am now ordering their other works and looking foward to their next new one.

This book had it all - surprise twists, a heroine who goes after ideals and sticks to them, characters you care about, and some romance. It is a very quick-paced book not bogged down with a lot of legalese, but enough to make it credible. I found myself rooting for the characters to make it at different times. The ending was great - not at all what I expected.

This being my first Nina Reilly book I wanted to start off with the initial book in the series, and as a result I have none of their other books to compare it with. They are no Grisham, that's for sure. Book starts out really slow and took much effort on my part to stay with it until it started to get good (when the trial started.) Almost no character development imho but interesting characters are part of the story. I should disclose that I am a trial attorney of some 30 years and with over 100 civil and criminal trials to my credit so my appreciation of the book (or lack thereof) may differ from a layperson's. I didn't even come close to figuring it out by the way. Despite my somewhat lukewarm reaction to this book I have ordered another one in the series, willing to give them another try. I am hoping that they improve as they go along.