Fault Lines

By Natasha Cooper

Book Overview

The brilliant and idealistic Trish Maguire returns in a devastating case of corruption and conspiracy. In a particularly difficult case of alleged child abuse, Trish knows that the jury's decision hinges on the persuasive testimony of her friend and star witness, Kara Huggate. When Kara doesn't appear at the trial, she realizes that something must have gone terribly wrong. She returns to her chambers after court to find the police waiting for her with some horrifying news: Kara has been brutally raped and murdered. At first it seems as though her attacker was the Kingsford Rapist - a serial rapist and killer who has managed to elude the police. Then several inexplicable clues indicate that the murderer may have been a copy cat. Trish receives a letter from Kara, posted the night of her death, asking her to help a suspicious man named Blair Collons. Although Trish decides to help him out of loyalty and affection for her friend, she cannot understand why Kara cared so much for the paranoid and strangely obsessive Blair. Soon Trish finds herself mired in his unhappy story, with potentially devastating consequences. Fault Lines is a tense and disturbing examination of the power of corruption and the lengths to which people will go to protect themselves.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312253168
• ISBN13: 9780312253165
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 346 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Fault Lines

This is a deeply engrossing novel that will keep you guessing, with a couple of plot twists that you almost expect, and yet manages to surprise you anyway.Kara Huggate, a social worker, has persuaded Trish Maguire, a sharp and idealistic lawyer, to take on a case of alleged child abuse. The case pretty much hinges on Kara's testimony. And so Trish is shocked to learn that on the very day of the trial, Kara was found murdered in a most brutal manner in her home. The police seem to think that either the Kingsford rapist has struck again or else it is a case of a copycat crime.Trish is still mourning her friend's death when she receives a letter from Kara requesting that Trish help a client, Blair Collons, in a case of wrongful dismissal. Collons, is a seedy man who used to work as the bookkeeper for the Kingsford Town Council. He claims he was dismissed because he and Kara were suspicious of a shady development deal that the Council was involved in with contaminated land. Collon is a man that lives and breathes conspiracy theories and he firmly believes that Kara was murdered because she was trying to find out what was going on.Collons makes Trish feel extremely uneasy, especially as he seems to have a rather unhealthy fixation for Kara. Trish begins to suspect that Collon may have murdered Kara. However she feels obligated to help Collon because it was Kara's last request, and because he is now a client. And then someone starts sending her newspaper cuttings of women who have been brutally , and she starts receiving threatening 'phone calls in the middle of the night. Is it Collon, or could his wild, off-the-wall theories actually have substance?I was totally absorbed with this book. The intricacies and tight pacing of the book was so neatly mapped out, that it was pretty much 'smooth' reading. Also much of the violence was alluded to without graphic and needless descriptions -- a fact much appreciated! I freely admit to being a bit of an Anglophile, and so find mysteries that give the reader a glimpse of the British legal system engrossing reading. And when they are matched with a character like Trish Maguire, they are a winning combination. Trish may be sharp and a little impatient, but she is smart and loyal as well. The next Trish Maguire mystery will be an automactic 'must read' for me.Very engrossing reading.