A Maureen Gould Legal Thriller
Book Blurb:
Is Truth for Sale?
“The Millionaire” is in jail on a murder charge.
Violent inmates beat him savagely, trying to extort money.
To save his life, Maureen Gould must find the truth and free her client.
When Maureen Gould’s former client, Tony Paredes, known as “The Millionaire,” is accused of killing his abuser, she believes he’s innocent. But the authorities don’t care. They throw him into jail with violent criminals who almost beat him to death to extort money he doesn’t have.
As he recovers in the hospital, Maureen must find the evidence that will convince a jury to acquit him. If he goes back, the next beating will surely kill him.
My Review:
My turn for a Keenan Powell novel. The CE read both Implied Consent and The Sorrowful Girl, the latter of which should have been saved for March and Reading Ireland Month. He loved both of them. It’s definitely my turn.
I love a good legal thriller and Book 2 in the Maureen Gould Series is just that.
Gould is defending Tony Paredes accused of murdering the coach who raped him when Paredes was involved in the chess club of a private school. While those closely connected with the original lawsuit that Paredes eventually lost against Oscar Wenderholm believe he murdered Wenderholm, Gould believes her client is innocent. The evidence appears to be mainly circumstantial—he’s an easy, obvious perp.
It’s a multi-layered plot, one that involves Gould’s own secreted experience as well as Paredes’s story. The author has packed authentic support characters around her, including a prosecutor hubby and a daughter who wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps. There is also a very intelligent kitty named Germaine Greer that at times I forgot was a cat.
As Gould picks away at what few leads she’s gotten, her client has been badly beaten in jail and is now in the hospital. If he’s sent back—he won’t make it out alive. In order to win his freedom, however, she’ll have to explode the case wide open, against a prosecutor who has never lost a case and it’ll cost the loss of her own secret in the doing.
It’s a multi-layered plot using Gould’s own secret and Paredes’ backstory that includes a court case he lost to jury tampering. While some of the evidence of the murder appears contrived, there seems to be a credible witness with the victim’s wife. But a gun planted in Paredes’ trunk? Come on…Every step forward leads to another twist and the biggest of all in the conclusion. Good storyline, great characters, and I love it when I get surprised.
I’ll be looking forward to her next installment—this one can be read as a standalone, but hubby really enjoyed Implied Consent—you may wish to begin with Book 1. (Books 1 and 2 are available as audiobooks.)
I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars 
Book Details:
Genre: Legal thrillers, Murder, Murder Thrillers
Publisher: Three Hooligans Press LLC
ISBN: B0CS9R5BFS
ASIN: B0CK677XCP
Print Length: 285 pages
Publication Date: January 26, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link(s):
Amazon | Kobo
The Author: Keenan Powell is the Agatha, Lefty, and Silver Falchion nominated author of the Maeve Malloy Mystery series.
Despite being one of original Dungeons and Dragons illustrators, art seemed an impractical pursuit – not an heiress, wouldn’t marry well, hated teaching – so she went to law school. The day after graduation, she moved to Alaska.
She is the author of the Maureen Gould Legal Thrillers, the Maeve Malloy Mysteries and numerous short stories.
©2024 V Williams
Rosepoint Publishing 