Evil Is Done (Trish Maguire Mysteries) [Hardcover]

It's so rare to get hooked on a detective story these days. I didn't want this book to end. All the ingredients were there: 3-dimensional characters that a reader could care about; a strong, smart heroine who doesn't get rescued and doesn't put herself in needless danger, a plot with just the right twists and turns, and enough clues to keep us guessing. We're transported vividly to London with scenes of bridges, streets and buildings.

Consider this a rave. Perfect reading when you're brain dead from real work or just in dire need of intelligent escape fiction.

After eighteen years as a barrister Trish Maguire feels life has gone full circle. She works with Leviathan loss adjustor eight plus months pregnant Cecilia Mayford, who happens to be married to a highly regarded sculptor Sam Foundling, one of Trish's first clients. Trish and Cecelia are looking into the newly developed London Arms building in which cracks have formed.

Sam, raised as a foster child, receives a letter from a woman in HM Prison claiming to be his biological mother, who needs his help as she stands charged with infanticide. However someone batters his wife at his studio. She is rushed to the hospital with head traumas, but though the baby is saved Cecilia dies. Trish believes Sam is innocent, but others like his mother-in-law Gina "Mrs. Justice" Mayford and Trish's friend newly assigned police Chief Inspector Homicide Detective Caroline Lyalt think otherwise and plan to prove their assertion. Trish looks at a host of other scenarios, but doubts Caro will listen to her unless she uncovers something solid.

EVIL IS DONE is an exciting London whodunit in which the police and the in-laws believe the husband committed the homicide while his only friend Trish thinks otherwise. The cast is strong especially the support players who bring out the best in the heroic barrister. Already with some conflict with her boyfriend over the cracked building case, Trish's efforts to find evidence of someone else being the perpetrator while the police only follow clues to hang Sam make for a wonder mystery that readers will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner

In Natasha Cooper's "Evil is Done," barrister Trish Maguire reconnects with successful sculptor Sam Founding, whom she had met seventeen years earlier. He was only twelve then, and along with his deep emotional scars, he had numerous burns and bruises all over his body. Fortunately, Trish was able to free Sam from his sadistic foster parents, and a caring teacher later introduced Sam to the magic that clay could hold for an artist. Now Sam is laboring to complete a piece for entry in a prestigious art contest. However, tragedy intervenes when Sam enters his studio to find his pregnant wife, Cecilia, dying after an unknown assailant savagely beat her. The police immediately focus on Sam as their number one suspect, since the spouse is usually the culprit in this type of crime. Making matters worse is Sam's reputation for instability. He frequently quarreled with his wife, with whom he had a stormy relationship. Trish takes up Sam's cause, but she is soon appalled to learn that the senior officer in charge of the investigation is her best friend, Chief Inspector Caroline Lyalt, who is starting a new job with the Major Incident Team of the Metropolitan Police. Caro is determined to find enough evidence to arrest Sam for the murder of his wife, and she bitterly resents Trish's unwelcome interference.

Natasha Cooper is a talented writer, and Trish Maguire is a wonderful creation. She, like Sam, had a troubled childhood, and she identifies with those who have no champions to support them. Five years earlier, Trish became the guardian of her half-brother after his mother died. Now, thirteen-year-old David is very dear to her, and she and her partner, George, have gladly assumed the role of surrogate parents. They are delighted to see David blossoming under their care and guidance. Trish is tough but extremely kindhearted. When she takes up a cause, she stubbornly refuses to give up, even when seemingly insurmountable obstacles stand in her way.

"Evil is Done" is an engrossing character study of a man on the edge. Sam Foundling gave himself this odd surname because, when he was three months old, his birth mother left him on the steps of the Royal London Hospital. How can any child ever overcome such abandonment, followed by years of mistreatment at the hands of strangers? Is it possible for Sam to ever feel a wholesome emotional attachment to anyone? As the police build their case against Sam, Trish looks into the possibility that Cecilia had other enemies. Trish and Cecilia were both involved in a multi-million dollar commercial case dealing with a building, known as the London Arrow, which had developed structural damage shortly after completion. Could something about this case have been a factor in Cecilia's death, or did someone else hold a grudge against her for some reason? Trish tirelessly follows up every lead in her desire to help Sam.

Cooper's nicely developed characters include Judge Gina Mayford, Cecilia's grieving mother, who turns to Trish for help after her only child is killed. The aforementioned George Henton, Trish's partner and a successful solicitor, loves Trish but is shocked when his position is jeopardized after he and Trish develop an unforeseen conflict of interest. Cooper shows just how fragile a relationship between a man and a woman can be, and how much hard work and commitment are required if the partnership is to succeed. The author gives her story added resonance with a host of details that shed light on each individual's innermost thoughts and feelings. Although the plot has one too many coincidences, and the ending is a bit too neat, Cooper carefully avoids melodrama and she leaves a few loose ends dangling for the sake of realism. "Evil is Done" is complex, touching, thoroughly engrossing, and a welcome addition to the marvelous Trish Maguire series.