Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld
Series: Keera Duggan #1
Published by Brilliance Audio, Thomas & Mercer on March 28, 2023
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 396
Length: 11 hours, minute
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible
Keera Duggan was building a solid reputation as a Seattle prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. For the competitive former chess prodigy, returning to her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father is the best shot she has. With the right moves, she hopes to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father, and her career.
Keera’s chance to play in the big leagues comes when she’s retained by Vince LaRussa, an investment adviser accused of murdering his wealthy wife. There’s little hard evidence against him, but considering the couple’s impending and potentially nasty divorce, LaRussa faces life in prison. The prosecutor is equally challenging: Miller Ambrose, Keera’s former lover, who’s eager to destroy her in court on her first homicide defense.
I have enjoyed Robert Dugoni’s books from the first one I read and now I wouldn’t think of not reading all his new ones. Her Deadly Game is the first in a new series, Keera Duggan. The setting is Seattle, as some of his other series. In fact, it is the same world, as we see Del and Faz very briefly. There are also some CSI people I recognized.
Kerra is one of three sisters and a lawyer. Her father is a well-known criminal defense attorney. He played chess with her since she was a child and encouraged her to think ahead. Keera leaves the public defender’s office after an affair with her boss goes south and joins her father’s firm which has its own issues.
She’s on call one night when a big case comes up and she handles it. I loved the legal strategies and how smart Keera is with questioning witnesses. All throughout the case, something feels wrong. She is up against her ex and he is making it as difficult for her as possible.
The evidence on her client is circumstantial. She doesn’t think he could have committed the crime. There are a bunch of pieces of evidence which don’t fit. Keera and her investigator try to make them work together to explain what happened. Keera also investigates her client as she keeps learning unfavorable things about him.
I liked Keera. It was fascinating to see her make the change from prosecution to defense attorney. Everyone deserves a good defense but how does she feel about the client not murdering his wife, but not being a good guy? I loved all the shades of people with their flaws and strengths. I can’t wait for more Keera and her family, and the legal trials.
Narration:
I have listened to this narrator previously. She has a large body of work. I enjoyed her performance, feeling the male and female voices were comfortable. She also handled a bit of an accent. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Robert Dugoni
Robert Dugoni is the New York Times, #1 Amazon, and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of the Tracy Crosswhite series: My Sister’s Grave, Her Last Breath, In the Clearing, The Trapped Girl and Close to Home, as well as the short prequels The Academy and Third Watch. The police procedural featuring Seattle Homicide Detective Tracy Crosswhite has kept Dugoni in the Amazon top 10 for more than three years and sold more than 4 million copies. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, released April 2018. Dugoni’s first series featured attorney David Sloane and CIA agent Charles Jenkins.
He is the winner of the Nancy Pearl Award for fiction, a two-time nominee for the Harper Lee Award for Legal Fiction, A two-time nominee for the Mystery Writer’s of America Edgar Award and a two-time nominee for the International Thriller of the year. His non-fiction expose, The Cyanide Canary, was a 2004 Best Book of the Year. He is published in more than 30 countries and two dozen languages.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 23-COYER
This sounds really good. I can’t imagine being a lawyer and having to make decisions like that😬 Thanks for sharing, Anne!
IKR? This is one of my favorite authors so I am happy to have a new series.
I do adore that narrator!
I’ve listened to her before but not frequently. Since this is a favorite author, she is likely to become this character for me.
I read one of Dugoni’s books a few years ago and loved it. This one sounds fascinating. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
He is one of my favorite authors and I want to read everything he writes because I enjoy it.
I didn’t know he’d started a new series. I’m still trying to make my way through his Tracy Crosswhite series. (Bowing my head in shame.) I’m so far behind! ;D
We can only fit in what reading we can. Tracy Crosswhite is my absolute favorite!
I have a few if his books, I just need to find the time to read them, This sounds interesting.
He’s a favorite, always read author. I’ve loved all his books.
Yeah, its so tough to do a good job even when you’re not sure the person is innocent and, on top of it, they aren’t likeable. Keera does sound great. I’ll have to mark this one for later.
It was a very interesting situation. She knew he wasn’t the murderer but that didn’t mean he was a good guy. I hope you enjoy it.
This sounds great. Anne! I love Saskia Maarleveld. Has the NetGalley app for audio improved? I listened to only one at the beginning.
I got the eARC from Netgalley and the audio from Brilliance. I would say the Netgalley audio app is working ok. There are just some features I wish it had or that I could figure out. One is it doesn’t seem to work with the on/off selection on my earbuds.
I love books about lawyers, and this one sounds great. I think it would make a great TV series too.
I found it very interesting.
This sounds really good and I am a big fan of the narrator’s work. I hope to get to his books at some point.
I’ve loved all his books. Many are KU and include audio.
I want to try this author, in fact I was just looking up his Tracy Crosswhite series and the first is KU with audio so I’ll probably start there, but this one sounds really good too! Maybe I’ll read this one first.
Tracy is my absolute favorite. I listened to all on KU and then bought the audios as well.
I’ve never read anything by this author but I’ve been curious about his books. This sounds good and it does sound interesting seeing the main character transition from prosecutor to defense attorney.
It is fascinating to see that character development. His books are nearly all set in Seattle Washington and have police or legal or government situations.
Keera sounds like fun.
She is very smart.