Prey to All (Ulverscroft Mystery) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Natasha Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001 | Series: Ulverscroft Mystery

Deb has served 5 years in prison for the murder of her father when Trish Maguire is invited to become part of a documentary investigation that might clear her name. Then events take an unexpected turn when the MP who had supported Deb is murdered.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

British barrister Trish Maguire is keeping a deathwatch at the bedside of her father, from whom she's long been estranged, when an old friend prevails on her to help Deborah Gibbert, a woman accused of suffocating her own ailing father. Even her own family believe Deb killed her father, a difficult man whose death by "natural causes" was successfully challenged by Deb's sister and led to a guilty verdict against her. Trish's own conflicts with her father inform her efforts on Deb's behalf; so does Deb's long friendship with an M.P. whose motives for helping her case are murky, to say the least.

This relatively bloodless psychological thriller is short on suspense but somewhat longer on character development. Trish is a complex woman whose sense of obligation to her family and friends, as well as her clients, often results in the kind of intrapsychic conflicts that make for interesting reading but detract from the pace of the narrative and do little to ratchet up the dramatic tension. This is her third appearance in an otherwise unremarkable series that will appeal mostly to those interested in the arcane workings of the English legal system. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Readers who persevere with this somewhat languid contemporary British mystery will find it picks up speed toward the end. Comely barrister Trish McGuire usually argues child abuse cases before the bar, but in this, the third novel in the McGuire series, she takes on a murder case at the urging of a friend, television producer Anna Grayling. Anna is convinced that Deb Gibbert should be retried after a guilty verdict jailed her with a life sentence. Anna is preparing a TV special she hopes will prove that Deb did not smother her bellicose, ill father. Who did do the old boy in? Was it Deb's long-suffering mother? Or Deb's "perfect" sister, Cordelia, who hated Deb enough to testify against her at the original trial? Did the overworked and undercaring country doctor make a mistake? Trish grudgingly takes on Deb's case, as she herself is not certain whether she believes the embittered woman is innocent. The police personnel on the case are DCI William Femur, who's had a run-in with Trish in the past, and his sergeant, Caroline Lyalt. They add their official methods to Trish's more informal attempts at investigation. On the home front, Deb's beleaguered spouse, Adam, and four childrenDheaded by teenage KateDmuddle on with their own lives and problems, not the least of which is having a gaol-bird for a wife and mother! Cooper cunningly weaves these plots together as the novel chases to its close in a stunning turnabout ending. (Dec. 14)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708944280
• ISBN-13: 978-0708944288
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,830,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, November 11, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Prey to All (Hardcover)

Independent TV production company chief Anna Greyling is working on Rough Justice, the story of a woman serving life for murdering her acerbic, ailing father. Anna asks her friend, barrister Trish Maguire, to provide legal advice to the show as well as proving that Deb Gibbert, the mother of four, did not kill her father. Unable to resist the lure of film and the case itself, Trish accepts the offer.

After reviewing the case files, Trish realizes that the case against Deb is extremely powerful. Besides having the means, motive, and opportunity, her loved ones and the attending physician believe patricide occurred. In Trish's opinion Deb's barrister put up only a half-hearted defense. Only Anna and a former lover of Deb give credence to the woman's innocence.

PREY TO ALL is an exciting, well-written British legal thriller. The story line belongs to the charcaters, especially Trish and Deb, as readers understand their feelings. That insight along with close scrutiny into the thoughts of the doctor and Deb's lawyer augments the entertaining plot that looks carefully at the price of a weak defense. Anyone who has tried a Natasha Cooper novel (see Willow King books) knows that the author is one of the best writers of the British psychological legal thriller.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Prey to All, December 8, 2000

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prey to All (Hardcover)

Another great Trish Maguire mystery novel. And although this third installment in the series lacks a little the vinegar of the first two, it still makes for compelling reading.

Trish is persuaded by her friend, Anna Grayling, to take a look at the case against Deb Gibbert. Four years ago, Deb was convicted of murdering her very sick father in a fit of anger. The whole case against Deb seemed to hinge on the somewhat hostile evidence provided by her father's attending physician, Dr. Foscutt, and Deb's sister, the "perfect" Cordelia. Both Dr. Foscutt and Cordelia painted Deb as a very angry, violent and unsympathetic indiviual. Even Deb's barrister believed her to be guilty of the crime. However Anna believes differently. She believes that Deb was convicted on circumstancial evidence; and that the prejudiced testimony of Cordelia and the good doctor, together with Deb's barrister's inept handling just added more weight to the Crown's shaky case. Anna is an independent TV producer who wants to do a documentary on Deb's case, and she asks Trish to take a look at the case -- to provide legal advise, as well as to see if she could help Deb in any way.

This case hits home with Trish, esp as her estranged father is now in hospital, seriously ill. And as Trish begins to read the trial transcripts and take a look at the evidence, she becomes convinced that Deb was short changed. So, out of a sense of seing justice done, Trish begins to sift through the evidence to see what she can further dig up. And then one of Deb's strongest advocates is shot in front of his house. Could Trish's investigation have been a trigger to murder? Trish is afraid but she is resolved to see the case to its end and to obtain justice for Deb.

This book was compelling reading. As with the other two Trish Maguire mysteries, the reader is treated to a look at the British judicial system -- a system that seems to have as many problems as any other. The chilling reality that the fate of anyone facing trail is truly in the hands of the lawyer handling the case really hits home with this mystery! Trish seems to have mellowed a little in this novel, but she hasn't lost her edge (thank goodness). I'm definitely looking forward to the next Trish Maguire mystery.