Unnatural Causes [Hardcover]

Janet Bettle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2000

Geri Lander is a successful lawyer always ready to passionately defend the underdog. But when Joanna Pascoe comes to her for help in uncovering the truth behind her husband's mysterious death, even Geri believes she does not have much of a case. What has happened to Joanna's husband seems like a tragedy-a senseless, heart-wrenching tragedy.

But, as Geri digs a little deeper, she comes up with frightening questions, and no answers: Why should a perfectly healthy man like Dr. Pascoe die after a simple case of food poisoning, and why such a gruesome death? The further Geri delves, the more suspicious the circumstances become, and before long she discovers that Thomas Pascoe has died from something far worse than food poisoning. Dr. Pascoe is the victim of a deadly super-bug-a bacterium resulting from over-use of antibiotics in farm animals. Geri begins to investigate, only to be thwarted at every attempt to discover the truth. The authorities are curiously unwilling to help, more people are dying, and suddenly Geri finds herself in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy.

In this terrific first novel, Janet Bettle introduces a feisty heroine and brings a fresh and contemporary voice to the world of legal thrillers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Janet Bettle's Unnatural Causes, London solicitor Geri Lander is a figure designed to appeal to professional women--sure of herself, outspoken, and secretly a victim of crippling self-doubt:

Geri had been known to reduce a company hatchet man to tears in the witness box. Each of her partners could recall ferocious outbursts from her which had left them reeling. Geri was no soft touch. But for some reason she lived in dread of the silent disapproval of Rory's teachers. They must think she was failing him somehow: working all hours, sending an eclectic variety of after-school carers to pick him up. And there had been the business of her husband's death...

That death, a suicide, has left Geri controlling partner of the law firm Lander Ross, where she struggles daily to preserve the firm's tradition of legal aid litigation. Her partners, eager to increase cash flow, have little patience with her willingness to take on seemingly hopeless causes on a conditional-fee basis. Naturally, they aren't thrilled when she accepts a case from widow Joanna Pascoe, who is determined to discover the truth behind her husband's death from food poisoning. That truth, when Geri stumbles upon it, has devastating consequences. Thomas Pascoe died because the British government turned a blind eye to poultry-farm management: chickens overmedicated with antibiotics have developed a "super-bug" that can resist all medical treatment. Geri must take on the Minister of Agriculture, who is desperate to silence the truth at any cost.

Bettle's first novel shows the occasional promise of good things to come. Her central characters are generally well drawn; she's not afraid to use a modicum of humor; and the subplot involving a traitorous partner is a nice touch. However, its faults are serious enough to distress most readers who appreciate clarity of language, careful plot construction, and a judicious balance of action and character development. Bettle tends to belabor the obvious, to dwell on the most superficial of plot levels, and to launch into pedantic lectures on the nature of the British legal system. It may be impossible to make the chicken-antibiotic black market into fascinating literary fodder, so perhaps it should come as little surprise that Unnatural Causes is, unfortunately, a paltry--or poultry--endeavor. --Kelly Flynn

From Publishers Weekly

A woman barrister's fight to keep her law firm alive while investigating corruption in the poultry industry marks the auspicious debut of Bettle, herself an English barrister. In the wake of husband Simon's depression and suicide, Geri Lander, senior partner in the law firm founded by Simon, must juggle running the firm, trying cases and caring for her 11-year-old son, Rory. Dealing with her condescending male partners and the still-chauvinistic legal community while trying to be true to Simon's ideals and establishing a new life are more than enough for anyone to handle. But added to all this is a claim brought by Joanna Pascoe, a widow who seeks justice and the real cause of the death of her husband (Thomas Pascoe, the late doctor, made a video in which he said that he believed his illness was caused by eating chicken infected with some type of deadly bacterium.) Geri takes the case on contingency, upsetting her partners and causing further strain to the already struggling firm, whose finances teeter precariously after a partner disappears with substantial funds. On the home front, Rory is fighting his own battles as he tries to come to terms with his father's death, and Geri gratefully accepts Joanna's offer to stay with Rory after school in exchange for legal assistance. Bettle makes her case expertly for Geri as an advocate and friend for all seasons while presenting an unsettling picture of women at the mercy of today's court system. Future appearances from this skillful author will be welcome. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st U.S. ed edition (June 9, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312262442
• ISBN-13: 978-0312262440
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,250,345 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

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtroom drama explores poultry industry, July 13, 2000

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unnatural Causes (Hardcover)

Janet Bettle's first novel, "Unnatural Causes" touches a raw nerve of justifiable paranoia. Approached by the gentle, dignified widow of a man who died painfully and inexplicably after a meal of chicken, crusading London solicitor Geri Lander accepts the food-poisoning case and finds herself pursuing a "super bug" which could bring down the British poultry industry, to say nothing of decimating the population. Caused by the overuse of illegal antibiotics in chickens, the super bug has proved resistant to medical treatment and, unknown to Geri, cases are proliferating.

Point of view shifts between Geri, the government functionary who has just completed a report a report on the hazards of antibiotic use in poultry and the agriculture minister who manipulates him to suppress the report. While I can think of a few things Geri should have done (like check hospitals for similar cases) the woman has a frantic life - she's a widowed mother at the helm of a struggling firm, with financial ruin lurking. There's also a bit of romance and a nice mother/son relationship in addition to the carefully plotted, wholly engaging, David-against-Goliath courtroom story.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite, September 3, 2000

By 

Charlotte Vale-Allen (CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Unnatural Causes (Hardcover)

While there is some very scary information in this book about antibiotics and the creation of superbugs than can pass from one species (chickens)to another (humans), the somewhat embarrassing romantic dance between the heroine (who is, of course, tall and beautiful and smart) and a professor/expert witness gets in the way of the story. The good people in this book are very very good and the bad people are very very bad; there's no shading to the primary characters. Oddly, the secondary characters have more depth and are more believable--except, naturally--for the second-tier villains. A high level of predictability detracts from the story, but readers will definitely think twice before they eat their next piece of chicken.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good British legal thriller, June 16, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unnatural Causes (Hardcover)

Though he was fifty-four years old, Dr. Thomas Pascoe was inperfect health. His grieving widow Joanna rejects the idea that hejust died from tainted chicken. Unable to obtain satisfactory answers from the medical community or the government, Joanna turns to attorney Geri Lander, whose firm has earned the reputation for its in depth handling of personal injury cases.

Though her company faces an immediate money problem. Geri accepts the Pascoe case on a contingent fee basis. This angers her partners, who want to accept cash only clients regardless of legal need, but she sticks to her beliefs that the firm adhere to its expertise. As she struggles with her own peers, Geri learns that Thomas did not die from simple food poisoning. His death was caused by a super-bug bacterium passed from chickens to humans. However, the various bureaucracies come together in an attempt to thwart Geri's efforts to attain the full truth into the use of antibiotic feeding of chickens.

UNNATURAL CAUSES is a great legal thriller that hits hard on two fronts. The exciting tale centers on the impact of what is happening to our food supply in the name of profits. The way the various organizations bind together will remind the audience of President Eisenhower's warnings to beware of the military-industrial consortium. The subplot involving Geri's struggles as a single mother and professional makes her seem human with frailties even as she goes to battle the seemingly invincible enemies. Janet Bettle provides a fabulous legal thriller that holds its own with the best of the best.

Harriet Klausner