Unlucky in Law (Nina Reilly Series) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Perri O'Shaughnessy (Author), Laural Merlington (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2005 | Series: Nina Reilly Series (Book 10)

Nina has just received a last-minute call from her old boss and mentor in Monterey County, California, where she is enjoying the breathtaking scenery and spending time with her boyfriend, P.I. Paul van Wagoner. Klaus Pohlmann is in desperate straits and begs Nina to take over a seemingly unwinnable case: A luckless two-time felon named Stefan Wyatt has robbed a grave and made off with the long-buried bones of a Russian émigré. When he is caught and arrested, further devastating evidence found in the grave suggests that Stefan is guilty of a far more deadly crime. A young woman, a classmate of Stefan’s, has been killed, and he is accused of her murder. Now, as a result of California’s Third Strike law, Wyatt is looking at twenty-five years to life whether he’s convicted of grand theft or murder. Either way, he’s in big trouble. With her client’s blood DNA found in the dead woman’s apartment, Nina faces an uphill battle. Suspecting that her hapless client has been set up, Nina brings in a brilliant forensic pathologist who comes up with a startling theory about the case that could rewrite a crucial page of European history. As the evidence mounts against Nina’s client, Paul launches his own investigation into the shadowy past of the two-decades-old skeleton. But long-held secrets nearly get him killed and reveal a more insidious evil at work - and an extraordinary story dating back to tsarist Russia and the Romanov court. As Wyatt edges closer to the unluckiest verdict of his young life, Nina makes an astounding discovery that just might save her client - or expose a killer who could bury them all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this 10th installment in O'Shaughnessy's series featuring spunky California lawyer Nina Reilly (Motion to Suppress; Invasion of Privacy), Nina has moved herself and 14-year-old son Bob from their usual Tahoe turf to the Monterey Peninsula to spend time with her lover, PI Paul van Wagoner. Paul has asked Nina to marry him, offering a big diamond to seal the deal. Nina puts him off while she prepares for a big trial: she's newly employed at Pohlmann, Cunningham, and Turk, and her first case, working with Klaus Pohlmann, is defending 28-year-old Stefan Wyatt, charged with murder and grave robbing. O'Shaughnessy has been accused of sloppy plotting in the past, but not so here. Russian émigré Constantin Zhukovsky, dead more than 20 years, used to tell friends and family of being a young page to Czar Nicholas II. Now the deadly ramifications of these stories have rippled down to the present. As for the damning evidence that Stefan's blood was found at the scene of the murder? O'Shaughnessy comes up with the neatest solution to that classic puzzle in recent thriller memory.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The popular sister duo behind the O'Shaughnessy pseudonym returns with another tale about the legal battles Nina Reilly fights for her odd assortment of clients. Away from her comfortable Lake Tahoe home and practice, Nina finds herself in California wine country, helping an old friend with a case. Nina's boyfriend, Paul von Wagoner, is just as pleased as he can be, for Monterey is where he hopes Nina will settle down with him as his wife. Nina has no time for such romantic notions, however, as her attempt to defend one of the unluckiest young men she has ever met is fraught with problems. Her client was caught grave digging--something he readily admits to doing for some quick cash--but he uncovered a second body that had been dumped in the grave, and now he stands accused of murdering that interloper. Fake bomb scares, an unhelpful Russian family, and untrusting colleagues all serve to complicate matters for Nina but make this courtroom drama entertaining. The key strength of this series is the pleasurable mix of a single mother's struggle to find love and happiness with her talents at preparing and trying cases. O'Shaughnessy fans will be pleased with this addition. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio Paperback Audiobooks; Abridged edition (March 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593556306
• ISBN-13: 978-1593556303
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,900,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good mystery, May 12, 2005

By 

B. McEwan "yellokat" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unlucky in Law (Nina Reilly) (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a sucker for stories that straddle two different historical eras, so this murder mystery that links present events to the murder of the last Russian czar and his family in 1918 was a natural for me. Unlike so many novels of this sort, the plot is not obvious, yet it is also an easy read for an airplane trip or a commute to work on the train.

The characters are well drawn. Nina Reilly, the attorney hero, is likable and the other primary characters have enough complexity to be believeable. The reader knows right away who the good guys are, but the murderer is not immediately identified.

Overall, this is a very good novel that will hold the attention of an intelligent reader without offering too much challenge to be easily entertaining. If you enjoy page turners and don't want to drag a big, hardcover book around town, this book is for you.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stick With It!, October 2, 2004

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unlucky in Law (Hardcover)

Although "Unlucky in Law" takes a very long time to get to the point, and although I almost gave up several times, I'm so glad I didn't. Because once the tedious and long beginning is done with, the story is one of the best in the Nina Reilly series.

Nina has now moved down to be with Paul, and as always, she is conflicted about the relationship. What else is new? But this time, we see some things from Paul's perspective, and that is both interesting and unique to the series...and adds some real interest to their dynamic.

While Nina is, as always, grappling with her personal feelings, she gets pulled into a case that first appears to be a simple murder--and winds up embroiled in Russian history, all the way back to the last Czar! Nina's client, a hapless young man named Stefan, is accused of the brutal murder of a young woman of Russian descent whom he swears he never met. But his blood was found at the scene of the crime. And the DNA is conclusive.

Hopeless? Nina doesn't think so--something doesn't rub her right, and she's going to find out what. Even if it means destroying her personal life.

Worth the read, worth the series. Give it a try.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intrigue and history-a satisfying mixture, November 4, 2004

By 

Cardinal47 (Ottawa, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unlucky in Law (Hardcover)

Nina Reilly has left Lake Tahoe to spend some time with her longtime lover and PI, Paul van Wagoner in Monterey, partly to sort out their future. She gets a call from an old mentor,Klaus Pohlman, who asks for her help on what appears to be a straightforward murder case. Nina agrees to help with the case and gets taken on a puzzling trip down "history" road. Her client, Stefan Wyatt, a neer-do-well young man, already has two convictions and,if convicted again, is headed for life in prison. He is accused of murdering a young woman,Christina Zhukovsky, and burying her body in her father's grave but removing the father's bones. According to DNA tests blood on glass shards found in Christina's home is Stefan's.

But things are not what they seem. Paul and Nina discover that Christina's father, Constantin Zhukovsky, has links to the Romanov dynasty which was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in 1918. We are led down meandering paths until the identity of the murderer is revealed in the last few pages. This is one of the best-plotted novels in the Nina Reilly series.