A Poisoned Mind [Paperback]

In A Poisoned Mind, Natasha Coopers long-term heroine Trish Maguire has is savouring her new status as a QC when she is assigned a case a case which is not to her taste: she is to act for Clean World Waste Management, a company whose tanks that have detonated with one fatality: a farmer. Trish finds her loyalties sorely tested when she encounters the farmer's widow, fighting the company in David versus. Goliath fashion. Trish’s personal life is as conflicted as her professional; David, her half-brother, David, has become friends with the barely-civilised child Jay Smith, The latter disturbs Trish who wonders about his potentiality for being rescued from a nigh-wild existence. And a violent incident involving Jay, inevitably happens just as Trish is uncovering webs of deceit involving corporate double-dealing and kickbacks. , A Poisoned Mind is one of Natasha Coopers most trenchant novels, full of the usual authoritative plotting, but also taking on board a an stringent picture of British society that a world away from the more orthodox crime fiction that those who have not read her think is Coopers métier. In fact, she is one tough writer – if the idea of reading a book with a heroine called Trish doesn’t appeal, you are doing yourself a disservice. --Barry Forshaw

"Simply gorgeous---a smart, complex, grown-up entertainment that rewards the reader on every page. Intricate in plotting, deft in characterization, ["A Poisoned Mind"] is one of the best legal thrillers I have ever read." ---Laura Lippman, "New York"" Times" bestselling author of "What the Dead Know
""[Natasha Cooper] is one to watch." ---Ian Rankin, Edgar award-winning author of "The Naming of the Dead
""Natasha Cooper brings a keen emotional intelligence to bear on the dark side of contemporary life. Trish Maguire is a heroine the new millennium." ---Val McDermid, author of "The Grave Tattoo
""Cooper excels at depicting the effects of terror on the weak and the strong." ---"Kirkus Reviews
""Natasha Cooper [is] one of England's best." ---"The San Diego Union Tribune
""Cooper's tense psychological thrillers are noteworthy for their taut pacing, devilishly clever plots, and keen insights into the darker recesses of the human psyche." ---"Booklist"

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057\deflangfe2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f1\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20 A man is killed when a chemical explosion takes place on his farm. His impoverished widow, Angie, is fighting for compensation from the waste management company who chose to store their dangerous chemicals on her land. This brings her up against barrister Trish Maguire, equally determined to protect her clients - the company. But as Trish delves deeper into the case, she grows more and more troubled by a nagging thought: was the explosion that killed Angie's husband really an accident, or the result of sabotage? And, if so, who could possibly have had the motive to commit a crime so horrendous, and with such far-reaching repercussions? \par With all this going on at work, the last thing Trish needs is the possibility of explosions at home. Yet such she faces, in the person of Jay: a clever but damaged fourteen-year-old boy, who has attached himself to her family.Trish is drawn to Jay and feels compelled to help him but, when his mother is discovered beaten and close to death on the housing estate where they live, Trish begins to wonder if they'll all get out alive. \par \f1 \par }

An ex-publisher, past Chair of the Crime Writers' Association, and lifelong Londoner, Natasha Cooper writes for a variety of newspapers and journals, including Crime Time and The Times Literary Supplement. She contributes to many radio programmes such as Woman's Hour and Saturday Review, and regularly speaks at crime-writing conferences on both sides of the Atlantic. She is the author of, among many others, FAULT LINES, PREY TO ALL and OUT OF THE DARK. In 2002 she was shortlisted for the Dagger in the Library, an award that 'goes to the author whose work has given most pleasure to readers'.