A few weeks ago I read and reviewed the first O'Shaughnessy book fearing Nina Reilly, attorney, who had moved to Lake Tahoe following her divorce. In Motion to Suppress Nina and her son Bobby were living with her brother and his family as she established her new practice. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters and the Lake Tahoe area, so I was anxious to read the second book in the series.Invasion of Privacy continues their story and the connection between Nina and an investigator from California named Paul Van Wagoner. We also learn the identity of Bobby's biological father. All of the characters, both personal and business, anyone connected with Nina actually, are in terrible danger in this book because of Nina's client, a woman film maker named Terry London. I was pretty sure everything would work out all right, but I was definitely afraid for some of the characters, including Nina and her son. This is a edge-of-the-seat read that has you holding your breath more than once. I suspected who-dun-it early on but couldn't be sure until near the end.The plot involves four young women who disappeared several years earlier and a movie London made about one of them who hasn't been seen in 12 years. Nina represents London in an invasion of privacy case brought by the parents of the girl and others who are horrified by the movie and don't want it released. That case and what happens as a result involve fascinating legal issues, and bring Nina up against an attorney she has faced off with before. He's everything a lawyer shouldn't be, a character you'll love hating. He discovers that Nina is much too clever and versed in the law for him to be crossing her.I loved this book as much as the first one. Now I see I don't have the third one so I'll be off to the library to borrow it. We have so many mystery lovers in this area, I'm sure they'll have it. I do recommend both O'Shaughnessy books I've read so far.
I know more traditional women would have problems when Nina Reilly works at the expense of her kid or shoulders all the burden of her choices but I love that about her. I love when she looks at Paul, knowing full well she could be wrong and essentially tells him to butt out, it's her case. Right or wrong, she owns it and she won't cede one tiny centimeter of control to anyone, male or female. I wish more heroines were feminists and not traditionalists. Bossy, independent Nina still gets the hunky hero--in this novel she has her choice of three. AND she's totally in control of her life.That being said, I've read all the Nina Reilly novels out of sequence as I have been purchasing them from the second hand stores or checking them out of the school library. This second book fills in a TON of blanks and loose ends. Every thing in the backstory from other novels make so much more sense now. Add some suspense, a seemingly impossible legal conundrum, and some super spiffy sluething and lawyering from Paul and Nina and you have a very tightly written mystery novel. The down home wisdom of Sandy is just gravy.
Without a doubt, this was one of the most unusual murder mysteries I have ever read. I have never met such an evil, bone chilling antagonist that wasn't written into a horror novel before!Nina think that she is safe defending a filmmaker from having her film of long ago disappearance, suppressed. Little does Nina know that this is going to become so much more.With this novel we learn so much more about Nina and her son Bobby, Nina's brother Matt and even about Nina herself.This turns into one of the most seemingly convoluted mysteries I have ever read. Several times I wanted to just put it down, but something about it kept calling to me to finish it-that I would never figure out who done it and why. I would never have a moments peace unless I knew what happened. I'm glad I kept at it, because the ending was just WOW!
—Dianne
It's been a long time since I read one of Perri O'Shaughnessy's books. This is the second installment in the Nina Reilly series. This is one of the best legal thrillers so far in her series. When Nina represents a civil case, things change on a dime for her, when her client hates her guts for a reason. And then her past reared its ugly head in this case, when we learn what happened to her in the past and how her family's affected. It's really an emotional roller coaster ride that thrown her for a loop. Old secrets and past wounds come up in her personal life, and a shocking twist or two surprises us all in the end. You really get involved and see what happens in Nina's world and inside her psyche.
—Kristen
This book was definitely a page turner, but there was something missing. None of the characters were all to like able, with all having major flaws that really hurt their likeability. The only one I found a real affinity for was, crap I forgot her name already, the secretary, was it Sharon, or Susan or something. I thought I'd like Paul a lot better, but every time he grew on me, something pulled him away again. We also have a very convoluted plot, too many things happening, possibly to throw us off of who the killer is, but come on, it really just muddled it up. Way to many things going on at once.I can say though, that I didn't want to put this book down, really wanting to find out how it was all going to resolve itself. Any book you don't want to put down definitely has some merit. But all in all, I don't think I'll be checking out her other books.
—Scott Breslove
