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Nina Reilly #9
Presumption of Death
New York Times bestselling author Perri O’Shaughnessy has garnered impressive acclaim for her tough, passionate thrillers set against the lush Lake Tahoe landscape and the world of one remarkable character: Attorney Nina Reilly. In this spellbinding new novel, O’Shaughnessy delves deeper into the heart and psyche of her popular heroine as Nina journeys back to her hometown to heal old wounds, and instead discovers that old secrets can be the deadliest kind....
Nina Reilly needs a fresh start. In three years, she’s taken on some of Lake Tahoe’s most controversial cases and has turned her struggling one-woman law firm into a thriving practice. Now she’s ready to sort out her complex relationship with her boyfriend, Monterey P.I. Paul van Wagoner. So she’s heading to the Carmel Valley, the place where she began her career and where her estranged father lives. It’s also a place of dramatic contradictions and hidden tensions, of new wealth and old families. And, within days of her arrival, Nina is already feeling the heat, as a case of arson exposes some of the darkest secrets of her hometown.
Two suspicious fires have already raged through the valley this summer, igniting suspicions of arson. When a third blaze ends in a fatality, police zero in on a suspect: Wish, the son of Sandy Whitefeather, Nina’s ex-assistant. The dead man is identified as Wish’s childhood friend, a troubled local auto mechanic who hated the changes wealthy newcomers had brought to the valley. Nina and Paul are certain that there is more to this strange case than meets the eye. As they work together to clear Wish, new, more frightening questions are raised, and another fire is set. And out of the flames a terrifying picture emerges: a community steeped in secrets and rage, a tangled history between two men, and a killer whose motives are dark and wrenching.
With the relentless page-turning suspense that has become her trademark, Perri O’Shaughnessy once again demonstrates her talent to enthrall. A haunting tale of crime and punishment, old grudges and second chances, Presumption of Death is suspense fiction at its finest--instantly compelling and utterly impossible to put down.
From the Hardcover edition.
Nina Reilly needs a fresh start. In three years, she’s taken on some of Lake Tahoe’s most controversial cases and has turned her struggling one-woman law firm into a thriving practice. Now she’s ready to sort out her complex relationship with her boyfriend, Monterey P.I. Paul van Wagoner. So she’s heading to the Carmel Valley, the place where she began her career and where her estranged father lives. It’s also a place of dramatic contradictions and hidden tensions, of new wealth and old families. And, within days of her arrival, Nina is already feeling the heat, as a case of arson exposes some of the darkest secrets of her hometown.
Two suspicious fires have already raged through the valley this summer, igniting suspicions of arson. When a third blaze ends in a fatality, police zero in on a suspect: Wish, the son of Sandy Whitefeather, Nina’s ex-assistant. The dead man is identified as Wish’s childhood friend, a troubled local auto mechanic who hated the changes wealthy newcomers had brought to the valley. Nina and Paul are certain that there is more to this strange case than meets the eye. As they work together to clear Wish, new, more frightening questions are raised, and another fire is set. And out of the flames a terrifying picture emerges: a community steeped in secrets and rage, a tangled history between two men, and a killer whose motives are dark and wrenching.
With the relentless page-turning suspense that has become her trademark, Perri O’Shaughnessy once again demonstrates her talent to enthrall. A haunting tale of crime and punishment, old grudges and second chances, Presumption of Death is suspense fiction at its finest--instantly compelling and utterly impossible to put down.
From the Hardcover edition.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
77 people are currently reading
581 people want to read
About the author
Perri O'Shaughnessy
50 books277 followersPerri O’Shaughnessy is the pen-name for two people, Pamela and Mary O’Shaughnessy, sisters. The authors' pseudonym is an homage to Perry Mason, the man who never met a guilty client, and a melding of their two first names, Pamela and Mary. O’Shaughnessy is their paternal family name.
They are the authors of eleven bestselling Nina Reilly novels as well as a collection of short crime fiction, Sinister Shorts.
They are the authors of eleven bestselling Nina Reilly novels as well as a collection of short crime fiction, Sinister Shorts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
November 6, 2012
Nina Reilly once again saves the day while trying to get her life back together. An enjoyable read.
May 1, 2021
3.5 stars- I enjoyed this story in this series of Nina Reilly. I don't recall reading any other before this one. This is one gutsy attorney and she fights for what she thinks is right. In this story, she must find out who is setting the fires that are delaying the new development from being built. Who is behind the fires? Danny, the young man that is working with Paul is the son of a good friend of Ninas'. He is pulled into the arson mystery and Nina must do her best to clear him before any more fires are started or other people get hurt. Can a group of people hold the key to this mystery?
To top things off, Ninas son returns to the USA after his European vacation, and ends up in the small apartment Nina and Paul are sharing. How will she help her friends son? Will Paul and her unravel the mystery before its too late? What will happen to her relationship with Paul. Only one way to find out, read the book.
To top things off, Ninas son returns to the USA after his European vacation, and ends up in the small apartment Nina and Paul are sharing. How will she help her friends son? Will Paul and her unravel the mystery before its too late? What will happen to her relationship with Paul. Only one way to find out, read the book.
August 8, 2020
It Sucked, she should never have moved from Tahoe
September 18, 2010
I've always found this series to be interesting, highly detailed, suspenseful, and informative as to the regions of Lake Tahoe and Carmel. Since I've been to both places several times, it's fun to be able to actually picture some of the areas. This book was no different in those respects and I like the main characters and their development (Nina, Paul, Bob, Sandy). It's well worth reading and I will definitely continue with the series. This particular book had a few disappointments to it, however. The new characters (people on Siesta Court)were not fully developed and I never felt like I got to know any of them. Sometimes, there is a bit too much legal detail. The story moved more slowly than those of the Nina Reilly series usually do. And, finally, for a book of over 400 pages with lots of detail, the ending wrapped up too quickly as though it was an afterthought and not well plotted like the rest of the book. I don't mean these comments to be serious criticisms of this book, overall I love the series.
October 7, 2015
#9 in the Nina Reilly series.
Nina Reilly series - Staying with her lover, investigator Paul van Wagoner, in his Carmel Valley condo while she reexamines her life after traumatic events, Unfit to Practice (2002), dislodged her from her South Lake Tahoe home and office, Reilly is torn between Paul's obvious sexual appeal and his irksome urging for some form of long-term commitment. Then the 21-year-old Native American son of Nina's former secretary, Sandy Whitefeather, winds up in the middle of a murder and arson investigation, and Nina and Paul barely have a moment free for cuddling or bickering.
Nina Reilly series - Staying with her lover, investigator Paul van Wagoner, in his Carmel Valley condo while she reexamines her life after traumatic events, Unfit to Practice (2002), dislodged her from her South Lake Tahoe home and office, Reilly is torn between Paul's obvious sexual appeal and his irksome urging for some form of long-term commitment. Then the 21-year-old Native American son of Nina's former secretary, Sandy Whitefeather, winds up in the middle of a murder and arson investigation, and Nina and Paul barely have a moment free for cuddling or bickering.
June 12, 2015
I know I've read previous escapades of Nina, the attorney, written by two sisters. I remember them as OK enough to pick this up from the swap table at the gym. This one takes place in the Carmel Valley with the Grand Finale near Lake Tahoe, Nina's original home base.
The book deals with arson and does a good job of keeping a whole bunch of neighbors on one street straight. An unexpected, but logical ending. An easy read.
The book deals with arson and does a good job of keeping a whole bunch of neighbors on one street straight. An unexpected, but logical ending. An easy read.
June 13, 2014
I'm still enjoying this Nina Reilly series. I am as interested in the progression of her personal relationship as the mystery and the courtroom scenes. This one had a surprising twist that I sure didn't see coming.
March 31, 2016
Not that interesting, really rushed at the end too.
March 28, 2019
I have read all the Nina Reilly books in order, and this is the worst. It does not follow the usual formula, which is investigating complex crimes, tracking down suspects, unraveling clues, going through myriad twists and turns and finally solving the mystery. This book is a soap opera - long narratives of the suspects (there are about a dozen of them), their marital and family problems, their motivations, and their phoney lives. The actual crime, arson, is just a backdrop.
Nina has had a difficult personal life: having a love affair with a transient Swede and becoming an unwed mother, marrying and divorcing a man who was not the father of her child, marrying and becoming widowed (covered in the book ACTS OF MALICE), and now trying to make a success of it with her investigator, Paul, even though she does not really love him.
Be wary of the title - it implies that there is something not quite right with the murder victim. You should all be aware that a positive ID (via DNA, dental records, or finger prints) is usually required before you presume the identity of someone. If the author does not provide such an ID, be wary. In this case Wish repeatedly tries to tell Nina that something is wrong with the ID of the victim, but she does not listen, so she is thrown off course, which is frustrating to the reader.
Nina has had a difficult personal life: having a love affair with a transient Swede and becoming an unwed mother, marrying and divorcing a man who was not the father of her child, marrying and becoming widowed (covered in the book ACTS OF MALICE), and now trying to make a success of it with her investigator, Paul, even though she does not really love him.
Be wary of the title - it implies that there is something not quite right with the murder victim. You should all be aware that a positive ID (via DNA, dental records, or finger prints) is usually required before you presume the identity of someone. If the author does not provide such an ID, be wary. In this case Wish repeatedly tries to tell Nina that something is wrong with the ID of the victim, but she does not listen, so she is thrown off course, which is frustrating to the reader.
July 15, 2020
Nina Reilly needs a fresh start. In three years, she’s taken on some of Lake Tahoe’s most controversial cases and has turned her struggling one-woman law firm into a thriving practice. Now she’s ready to sort out her complex relationship with her boyfriend, Monterey P.I. Paul van Wagoner. So she’s heading to the Carmel Valley, the place where she began her career and where her estranged father lives. It’s also a place of dramatic contradictions and hidden tensions, of new wealth and old families. And, within days of her arrival, Nina is already feeling the heat, as a case of arson exposes some of the darkest secrets of her hometown.
Two suspicious fires have already raged through the valley this summer, igniting suspicions of arson. When a third blaze ends in a fatality, police zero in on a suspect: Wish, the son of Sandy Whitefeather, Nina’s ex-assistant. The dead man is identified as Wish’s childhood friend, a troubled local auto mechanic who hated the changes wealthy newcomers had brought to the valley. Nina and Paul are certain that there is more to this strange case than meets the eye. As they work together to clear Wish, new, more frightening questions are raised, and another fire is set. And out of the flames a terrifying picture emerges: a community steeped in secrets and rage, a tangled history between two men, and a killer whose motives are dark and wrenching.
Two suspicious fires have already raged through the valley this summer, igniting suspicions of arson. When a third blaze ends in a fatality, police zero in on a suspect: Wish, the son of Sandy Whitefeather, Nina’s ex-assistant. The dead man is identified as Wish’s childhood friend, a troubled local auto mechanic who hated the changes wealthy newcomers had brought to the valley. Nina and Paul are certain that there is more to this strange case than meets the eye. As they work together to clear Wish, new, more frightening questions are raised, and another fire is set. And out of the flames a terrifying picture emerges: a community steeped in secrets and rage, a tangled history between two men, and a killer whose motives are dark and wrenching.
November 20, 2017
Reading this author is comfort food. I've read a few of her books so I do know the characters. Nina Reilly is a smart, good-looking attorney who wants a social life and moves from her Lake Tahoe abode to Carmel Valley. She takes up residence and office space with Paul van Wagoner, a handsome private detective and Nina's love interest. Just as Nina is getting comfortable with her relationship Paul’s assistant is arrested for arson and homicide by setting fires to a development with is friend.
The books is an easy and fast read and the story isn’t hard to follow. I can honestly say that I didn’t see this type of ending coming. All works out.
The books is an easy and fast read and the story isn’t hard to follow. I can honestly say that I didn’t see this type of ending coming. All works out.
February 22, 2020
This is the ninth book in the Nina Reilly series (2003) and I loved it. Set in Monterey County, CA it is a classic Perri O’Shaughnessy crime drama set against the backdrop of the current reality of California wildfires and full of very interesting characters. Keeping them all straight was a bit of a challenge but it keeps the reader on their toes. Well-written, exciting and not predictable. Great story line. Dramatic tension, at its best. There are four more novels in this series and I can’t wait to read the next one (“Unlucky in Law”).
July 26, 2024
This was my first reading of an O'Shaughnessy novel. Presumption of Death is the ninth in her series of Nina Reilly murder-mysteries. I may try the first book in her series to give her a fair shake. I did not find this ninth iteration on the Nina theme very engaging or believable. Further, I never felt any engagement with the main characters, which might be because I am jumping into the middle of the series, but I did not like it that characters, who were obviously developed in previous books show up and the reader is expected to appreciate them.
January 9, 2018
I have read all of the Nina Reilly books so far. This one seemed very different, and for the better. The books up until now have been enjoyable beach books, typical girl lawyer stories, fighting the good fight and always winning in the end. This books seemed more mature, with more character development and less fluff. There is still fluff, and Nina still can't decide what she wants in her personal life, but this one has more substance.
October 24, 2022
A good legal thriller. Nina Reilly takes on Wish's case, to prove his innocence. In doing so, she gets wrapped up in a small community at the heart of a series of fires set by an arsonist. With this series, I always get a little frustrated that Nina isn't as independent as I'd like her to - but in this book, she stands on her own fairly well. I also like the subplot of her and Paul, and how they deal with Nina's son, Bob.
January 29, 2025
Well, I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. This was ok, but I'm sick of the teenage angst that fills pages over Reily's relationship with her private investigator. Either dump him for good or whatever, but some of us are sick of reading about it. It feels like this could have been significantly shorter without some of the sillinness.
August 9, 2017
Entertaining story; I'm a fan of the series although I haven't read one for a while. Could have given it 4 stars but I absolutely hate the relationship between Nina and Paul. Can't she see he's controlling and an emotional abuser???
May 6, 2019
Another great Nina Reilly book. The only thing I don't like is the fact that she questioned herself too much to satisfy Paul. Granted I started reading these out of order but right now she needs to constraint on Bob but being a mother that is my opinion.
July 24, 2021
When I bought this book(so long ago) I was a huge fan of this series. Now picking it up, I don't remember why I liked the series so much. The Paul and Nina couple just doesn't work. I have one more DTB to read in this series and if that one doesn't convince me to keep reading I will be done.
July 5, 2025
I found a journal of books read back in 2004. This one was an airport pick that didn’t really hold my attention. My notes say that I’m not sure if I would have finished it, if it hadn’t been an airport read.
September 27, 2017
Good, but not the best.
October 10, 2017
Since this book is part of a series reading the others first might have been helpful.
January 24, 2018
I got to start getting more of her books.. was surprised at the end..
September 19, 2018
Nina has left Reno and moved in with her boyfriend Paul and gets caught up into an investigation into arson fires.
December 9, 2019
A bit too much of the lawyer talk for me.
February 20, 2020
Really good twist in the mystery, lots of good characters and a little romance thrown in - excellent!
July 12, 2020
I have decided I don't like Paul. I don't like Nina's attitude toward men in general.
Nice twist to this murder story. Forest fires started here and there to discourage builders .
Nice twist to this murder story. Forest fires started here and there to discourage builders .
October 23, 2020
Enjoyed, looking forward to ready more by these sisters.
January 9, 2021
Good book, but I'm disappointed with the move from Tahoe to Carmel. I was hoping she'd move back at the end.
March 10, 2021
Long and boring
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews