Review
Barrister Trish Maguire feels let down when one of her biggest cases is settled before getting to court. Her clients had been treated badly and she wanted the world to see them receive justice. That is the trouble with Trish - she becomes too involved at a personal level, cares too much. And that is what leads her into the murkiest of all her mysteries in this latest of Natasha Cooper's thriller series. Trish hopes to devote some quality time to her nine-year-old half-brother David, a child still trying to cope with many bad experiences including the murder of his mother. But almost immediately she is drawn into an investigation that takes in the seamier side of the art world, a case of blackmail, some money-laundering, and a romance from the First World War. Past and present are skilfully interwoven in a complex but gripping plot, while the undercurrents of menace that threaten Trish and her family are never far away. Long before the end, Trish will have learned much more than she can bear about the suffering endured in First World War trenches and about the psychology of modern emotional torment. The 21st-century day-to-day life of London contrasts sharply with views of the past, and helps to create a potent atmosphere of immediacy. The ability to convey an emotive sense of place is one of Cooper's great talents, and her characters are believable and easy to identify with. In Trish Maguire we have a real heroine - someone with compassion, integrity and intelligence. Trish's fans will not be disappointed with the way she handles this latest case. (Kirkus UK)
Product Description
Barrister Trish Maguire needs all the time she can find to help her young half-brother adjust to life after the violent death of his mother. Sir Henry Buxford, an influential acquaintance, has other ideas. He asks Trish to investigate one of his private charities, a magnificent art collection built up before 1914 and lost for most of the twentieth century. Taking a crash course in the murkier aspects of the art world, Trish is determined to unlock the secrets she is sure are hidden somewhere in the collection. Her research takes her not only into the heart of an engrossing love story, but also the agonizing reality of life in the trenches of the First World War. She soon discovers a web of deceit that has spanned the decades since, catching all kinds of people in its filaments. Now, the innocent, the violent, and the victims all have to free themselves. And someone dies.
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