Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni - Book Review

Publication Date: 28th March 2023

Genre: Contemporary Legal Thriller 

4.5 Stars One Liner: Super entertaining; Love it 

Keera Duggan, the daughter of the reputed defenseattorney Patsy Duggan, is making a name for herself as a prosecution lawyer inSeattle. However, she is back at her father’s law firm after ending a toxic relationshipwith her former boss. Things aren’t great with her family either, and Keerafinds comfort in playing anonymous online chess and sharpening herskills. 

Vince LaRussa, an investment advisor, hires Keera’sfamily law firm when he is suspected of his wealthy wife’s murder. Keera seesthis as a chance to establish herself but soon realizes she has to use all herchess strategies to stay one step ahead and win the case. What’s more, Keeramay have to make some tough decisions that could affect her family, the lawfirm, and her career. 

With her former boss and lover as the prosecutionattorney, Keera knows the stakes are higher than ever, and there may not be asecond chance. 

What I Like: 

The book takes time to set the stage but does itvery well. We already know how Keera’s mind works by the time the actual caseis introduced. This makes it easy to read fast and enjoy the developmentstoo. 

As a legal thriller, the focus is on courtroomscenes and the backend work lawyers do. The police work complements the caseinstead of overshadowing it. And I got strong Adaalat vibes (one of thecrime shows I binged on telly). Am I right or am I right? ;)

I really like how the author writes women. I wasimpressed by Tracy Crosswhite’s character though I read only one book in theseries. Keera Duggan is also etched to be real and relatable. 

The family dynamics also get some importance in thebook. Given how the law firm is run by Patsy and his daughter, this move topresent them as a dysfunctional yet loving family enriches the plot andcharacterization. 

Chess is an integral part of the book (I skimmed thescenes as my knowledge of the game is the bare minimum) and shows theimportance of using one’s mind and wits to fight a case in court. Turns out theauthor doesn’t even play chess. Very impressive! 

Patsy’s alcoholism, its impact on the family, andthe subsequent changes in the family dynamics during the case have a naturalarc. Patsy isn’t just an alcoholic lawyer. He is a father who loves hischildren. Never did I expect to like an alcoholic character this much. He mademe root for him. 

Despite being a legal thriller, it doesn’t get heavyon the jargon. Only the necessary terminology is used, and some of them areexplained in a natural flow. There’s even a Powerpoint presentation in one ofthe scenes. Nothing more fun than reading about a systematic approach to things(I love lists). 

Miller Ambrose may seem like a stereotype, but henails it on the head. He’s a character readers would love to hate. I wish Keerabeats him in more cases. 

I could guess the murder case and the connectionhalfway through. However, I enjoy the process of logically revealing theinformation to readers. I also think the author didn’t try to prevent thereader from connecting the dots b deliberately misleading them or ‘pulling therug’.  

What Could Have Been Better for Me:

Well… nothing much for me to rant about. But I stillgot a couple of issues to talk about… 

While repetition is expected in courtroom scenes,the same seems unnecessary during the climax reveal. The conversation gets abit too long, with one character repeating information that has been alreadypresented multiple times. Since I figured out almost all of it, I just wantedto get to the ‘how’ and ‘what next’ part of the story.

A certain diagnosis (for the lack of a better word)doesn’t seem to be necessary. The character has already been established. Thisdidn’t add anything to it. In fact, I like it when characters can be who theyare without some sort of medical diagnosis to support it (trying hard not toreveal spoilers). 

To summarize, Her Deadly Game is easily one of thebest legal thrillers. It is entertaining, intriguing, and fun to read. I hopethe author turns this into a series. All main characters have the potential tostar in multiple books, especially Keera, Rossi, and Patsy. 

Oh, the author’s note is one of my favorites. It’s aletter from the author to the readers, and that’s how it is written.Beautiful! 

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer, forthe eARC. 

#NetGalley #HerDeadlyGame