Due Justice

Justice #1

by Diane Capri

Judge Willa Carson is bullet proof – except when wild justice rules from the grip of a gun.

When a famous plastic surgeon’s decomposed body surfaces in Tampa Bay with a bullet in its head, Federal Judge Willa Carson’s “little sister” is caught in a high-stakes game of greedy lawyers, blackmail and deceit. Carly Austin knew the victim too well. Does she know too much about the killer, too? Before Willa discovers the answer, Carly disappears. Can Willa save Carly from herself and the murderous conspiracy? Or have they killed Carly, too?

Free-sprited Judge Wilhelmina Carson is quick, witty and stubborn. She finds nothing is what it seems in a world where attractive women with enough money are made, not born, and beauty can cost your life. Judge Willa debuts in this fast-paced mystery filled with great characters, humor and suspense.

*formerly titled “Carly’s Conspiracy”

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Ebooks, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary

318 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 2011

About the author

Bestselling author Diane Capri is a recovering lawyer. She’s a snowbird who divides her time between Florida and Michigan. An active member of Mystery Writers of America, Author’s Guild, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime, she loves to hear from readers and is hard at work on her next novel.

Connect with her online:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/@DianeCapri
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diane-...

Here’s the Long version, if you’re looking for more info:

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author Diane Capri’s work is what the #1 worldwide publishing phenomenon Lee Child calls “Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too.” Margaret Maron, Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Award-winning MWA Past President, says: “Expertise shines on every page.” And Library Journal raves: “….offers tense legal drama with courtroom overtones, twisty plots, and loads of atmosphere. Recommended.”

Diane’s new Jess Kimball series kicked off with Fatal Distraction, opening as the #3 Bestselling Legal Thriller, behind John Grisham. Diane’s new Hunt for Jack Reacher series began with Don’t Know Jack, which garnered #1 Bestseller spots on Mystery, Hard-boiled Mystery, Police Procedural, Women Sleuths, and Legal Thriller lists both in the U.S. and U.K. Don’t Know Jack was followed by two bestselling short stories in the Hunt for Jack Reacher series, Jack in a Box and Jack and Kill. Diane’s Judge Wilhelmina Carson mysteries were praised by Romantic Times and garnered the coveted “Top Pick.” Diane’s savvy, spunky character, attorney Jennifer Lane, stars in her own romantic suspense series, which kicks off with Annabelle’s Attack.

Diane is the past Executive Vice President of International Thriller Writers, past member of the Board of the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and active in Sisters in Crime and other writing organizations. She comes to writing after a successful legal career and is married to her college sweetheart. She loves her nomadic snowbird existence preferring perpetual summer migrating from Florida to Michigan each year.

Diane says she writes mystery and suspense for the same reason she reads: to find out what happens, why people do what they do, and how to bring justice to an unjust world.Her books are translated in twenty territories. Diane loves to hear from readers. Contact her at: DianeCapri.com/Contact to receive notice of new releases, subscribe to Diane’s blog, or simply connect with her.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this first book in the 'Judge Willa Carson series', we learn that Willa lives on Plant Key - near Tampa, Florida - with her restaurateur husband George. The couple are wealthy and have a lovely apartment above George's upscale eatery, where the local glitterati are frequent guests.



In between judging cases, Willa visits with friends and relatives, meets people for coffee and drinks, goes to parties, smokes cigars, jogs, plays with her two dogs, and shares quiet time with her loving husband.

The biggest fly in Willa's ointment is her boss, the Chief Judge (CJ), who holds a grudge because Willa once accidently took his parking space. The low-key 'feud' between Willa and the CJ injects humorous elements into the story.



The plot: Federal Judge Willa Carson knows something is up as soon as her foster sister, Carly Austin - whom she hasn't seen in a year - ambushes her at home. Carly confides that an unidentified body pulled out of Tampa Bay might be Dr. Michael Morgan, a plastic surgeon who's been missing for a month.



Morgan was on the team that developed silicone breast implants, which he's surgically embedded into the chests of thousands of women.....for a very handsome income.

After dropping this bombshell, Carly - an attorney for the breast implant manufacturer MedPro - hurries off and becomes unreachable. Willa knows she should tell Police Chief Ben Hathaway that the body might be Morgan, but - fearing her foster sister might be in trouble - keeps schtum.

When the news emerges that the body was Morgan and that he was murdered, Willa becomes even more antsy and launches her own investigation. Willa spends a good deal of time trying to track down Carly, but the lawyer is elusive, tells a lot of lies, and keeps running away. (I kept thinking, Willa has to cut this unreliable fruitcake loose and go to the cops. Seriously!)



As it happens, many lawsuits have been filed about breast implants, claiming silicone leakage has made women sick. These lawsuits are a cottage industry in Tampa, with attorneys for the plaintiffs (the injured women) as well as the defendants (the implant manufacturers) all hoping to reap millions of dollars in fees. Apparently, Dr. Morgan thought he could PROVE the implants were safe, which might derail all the lawsuits. Could this be a motive for murder?



The book has a lot of chatter about lawyers, doctors, and other interested parties on both sides of the implant debate: their rivalries, love lives, infidelities, money troubles, and so on - and it becomes difficult to keep track of all the characters. In addition, the plot contains multiple blackmailers and victims, which adds to the confusion.

In her quest to gather clues, Willa interacts with many of these folks, sometimes on the golf course - where she hears a lot of snide remarks about her game. (Ha ha ha) Nevertheless, Willa perseveres, and eventually discovers who killed Morgan.



I have some quibbles with the story:

At one point, Willa threatens to file a restraining order so the cops can't investigate Carly. This is SO illegal....it's impossible to believe.

The characters in the story, including Willa, drink a lot (okay, that's normal social interaction.) However, they DRINK AND DRIVE. In one scene, George polishes off a few cocktails before driving Willa to a party, and in another scene, Willa consumes half a bottle of wine before taking to the road. The book is set in 1999, but Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was established in 1980. So it's hard to believe the characters are so nonchalant about this.

After all the hemming and hawing about breast implants and women becoming ill, the reason for Morgan's murder is anti-climactic and not altogether satisfying.

Though it has flaws, the book held my attention and I learned quite a bit about breast implants - which are especially important to women who've had mastectomies. Also, Willa is an interesting character and south Florida is a nice setting. So, it you're a fan of cozies, you might want to try this series.

I received this book as a prize from the the "Women of Mystery" reading group on "Goodreads." Thank you!



You can follow my reviews at http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Due Justice is a murder mystery with a federal judge serving somewhat as an armchair detective investigating a case involving her family, sounded interesting and I liked it well enough. The story takes place in Florida with a lot of rich older persons along the lines of an Agatha Christie cast of characters, only less deftly managed. I like Willa Carson (the judge, MC) and find myself wanting to try another Justice book. Hopefully it will be better with fewer instances of white privileged individuals, and a few (I would settle for one) ethnic characters, even if it's a servant. This just felt so obnoxiously about plastic surgery and retired folks who are affluent Floridians. It really seems like an odd, monochromatic cast of characters not as diverse as Florida is in reality. You know with displaced Cubans and Puerto Ricans. Just saying.)

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read her other series with Otto and Gaspar I thought I would try this new slant with the Judge.
(The judge, Wilhemina, does appear as a very minor character in that Search for Reacher bunch).

Well, this series is not for me. It's core 2 or 3 characters just leave me completely in plodding territory. They are high end society restaurant / resort owner, his judge wife and several other Florida millionaire/ billionaire class. This has got to be in the bottom 3 of most boring reads of 2021.

I read slowly to 50% and after that I sped read. If I hear / read about plastic surgery procedures, features, ambiances, aftermaths, reactions for/about ever again- it will be too soon. How they look when they harden, get old, or become otherwise wandering in liquids. ANY kind of plastic surgery.

And the prime married couple! Dialogue is probably the most phony I've come across.

Her other characters (other series and this one too) are outlier but have some base in reality in their lines of work or others' onus of activities. While this setting and this plot. UGH! Unlikable characters in vapid trivialities numbering into the thousands.

So much intro too that length and repetitions are way too much for one novel. And fail the pacing completely.

Start a series by characters' doing. Not telling. And telling. And telling.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have packed this in. Usually I will persevere once I've reached 30+% but with this I gave in at 44% through....I just got totally bored with it, I'm afraid. Not a one of the characters are very likeable and all tended to keep secrets from each other and skirt around the truth.
Willa, the judge, seems to do just as she pleases which I would like to think isn't very likely in cutting court short early as it suited her, not returning phonecalls and not attending meetings. I'd like to think in her position she'd behave a lot better.
Then most peculiarly at 20% in there were suddenly mistakes !!
A firm of lawyers was Able, Barnes & Worthington and she mentioned Bennett was dead which was confusing enough but on the next page they'd morphed into Able, Bennett & Worthington. Then the annoying line "was the entire firm was populated"......which again makes no sense. Then instead of indicating the word indicting was used and born instead of borne. All this was very tiresome and coupled with the characters it was enough for me.

[Maura · Rating 1 out of 5]

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

This is completely boring, awful characters, no excitement or suspense. I feel like I'm following a judge around on her daily routine. Out to the golf course, home for drinks, blah, blah, blah. I'm 50% in and I so want to call it quits, but I will persevere! I'm skimming at this point anyway.

One of the most irritating things about this book however is the chapter endings. Almost every one ends in a cliche cliffhanger thingy. For example,

"The only thing I could manage was the break. I escaped. Or so I thought." (dun, dun, dun...)

or this one "Then I'd fix it like always. Or so I thought."

or this one... "Nothing else that marrying money didn't cure, at any rate. That's what I thought at the time."

"Tory might be erratic, but she's well informed." What an understatement that turned out to be.

In my opinion, these are the characteristics of amateurish writing and honestly make me laugh out loud at how corny they sound.

I so do not recommend this book - unless you're trying to sleep.

[Debra Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a scene in Carly's Conspiracy that takes place on a golf course between the protagonist, Willa, and another woman, a possible suspect. At the end, you feel like you've witnessed a cage fight, the repartee is so intense.

Make no mistake. You are deep inside Willa's head when she performs her mental martial arts, and Diane Capri's writing style reflects that. Sometimes it's practiced. Sometimes it's grueling. But it's never boring.

A twisty plot, an unreliable witness and the secret lives of old-money Tampa make Carly's Conspiracy a taut, fascinating read. Highly recommended for those who enjoy cerebral mysteries.

[Mathew Walls · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stupid, lazy, rich arseholes waste everyone's time.

This book is terrible. The protagonist is incredibly obnoxious, and her inability to put two and two together combined with her apparent inability to do the reasonable or sensible thing at any time serve only to pad the story out by making everything take longer than it should.

Everything about Willa is irritating. She seems to believe she's just a low-paid public servant, but she's clearly incredibly wealthy. She apparently has a job from which she basically can't be fired (American federal judges are appointed for life?), so she does a massively half-arsed job of it and barely even bothers showing up, then acts like her boss (or not her boss? I couldn't even tell) is the arsehole because, as far as I can tell, he'd like her to actually do her job.

She daydreams through trials, she behaves incredibly unprofessionally, and seems to spend more time playing golf than working. And she's incredibly dumb. Generally in a mystery the protagonist is supposed to figure things out, but Willa needs everything spelled out for her. For example, we learn that character A is being blackmailed. We learn that character A is making payments to character B. But Willa somehow fails to connect those two facts until character A flat out states that character B is the blackmailer.

Then there's the actual plot. It just goes around and around in circles, introducing a whole lot of irrelevant characters and trying to convince us that Willa is making progress when she clearly isn't. The obvious solutions are ignored until right near the end when it turns out that the big conspiracy angle Willa's been pursuing this whole time was bullshit and it was actually the more straightforward answer that any normal person would have been investigating right from the beginning.

The only reason the reader doesn't figure out the solution ahead of time is that the book deliberately keeps the evidence from you, first by having Willa just investigate obvious red herrings and generally waste time, and then by having Willa (as narrator) just leave information out. Like when she sees a photo that gives the whole thing away, but doesn't say who's in it. The reader at this point is thinking "Well, whoever's in that photo is the obvious suspect" but Willa doesn't actually figure that out until considerably later.

And finally there's all the inaccuracies. Apparently Capri is a former lawyer, but she seems to know less about the law than the average person. Hint: Not going to the police to say "My wildly unreliable friend implied to me that she might know the identity of that dead man who was discovered recently because of reasons she won't tell me." is not obstruction of justice, it's just called "not wasting the police's time."

And the ignorance doesn't end there, it extends to medicine (the placebo effect is not a new discovery and it doesn't mean you can cure all illnesses with your mind), even such simple things like computer file names - what program would you use to open files named rpt.dr1, rpt.dr2, cronin.pat and cronin.rup, do you think? Trick question, they're all text files for some reason.

In conclusion, this book has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Don't read it.

[Beverley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason I rated this 3 stars is because I liked the main character, Judge Willa. She and her husband, George were really the only two I cared for. I found the whole story line of her sister, Carly, to be sketchy and even annoying. She just shows up and then disappears, is supposedly a character of interest or suspicion in Dr. Morgan's murder, but no one knows anything about her ( she is a prominent lawyer by the way). Dr. Morgan is supposedly missing for a month and no one in the town seems to notice. The investigation appears shoddy at best, and there were really no surprises like most murder mysteries. The subject of silicone studies and effects was interesting, but not enough to carry my interest. That being said, I will probably read the next book in this series just because I find Willa's personality, her humor, and her reactions to predicaments entertaining. (Also, I downloaded this free from the library, so I'm not out any money on it.)

[Kimberly Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unidentified body! A list of suspects! One person seeking justice! Wow, we’ve got a recipe for a knockout legal thriller! Judge Willa Carson has found herself wrapped in a mangled mess of lies, deceit and murder. What Judge Carson should be doing is handling her federal cases, but her little sister, Carly, has a way of weaving her way through Willa’s heart, no matter what it is she’s done or hasn’t done. No matter how many times she’s stated she would stop ‘helping’ her sister, how can she turn her down?

Life would be so much easier if Carly came to visit Willa on better terms, such as a meeting of two sisters catching up and shooting the breeze, but instead, they find themselves sitting at Willa’s husband’s restaurant, Minaret, having lunch wherein they should be discussing how good the food was, Carly begins to spin a tale that is downright crazy. She tells her a famous plastic surgeon has been murdered. Say what? How would Carly know this? Is she involved? And if so, what the hell was she thinking? These were all the thoughts running through Willa’s mind. Not to mention, here we go again, Carly!

As you follow the clues, it will become pretty evident that Carly really knows how to get herself deep in the mess with Willa being her shovel. Overall, this was a pretty decent legal read. Again, I felt the story was too long with unnecessary details, but it wasn’t so prevalent that it took over the storyline. I really enjoyed the story. Capri’s a pretty decent author. I would highly recommend starting the series.

[David Highton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first of Capri's Hunt for Jack Reacher series 3 years ago, so I thought this first book in the Judge Willa Carson series would be better than it turned out to be. A weak plot lacking credibility and a series of unattractive characters in the Tampa medical and legal communities meant I found this quite difficult to get through. A set of characters set up for a sequel - will reflect hard on the chances of the series getting better.

[Renee Mihld · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book #1 in the Hunt for Justice series, and it was enjoyable. I read it as part of the Licensed to Thrill 3 trilogy. Judge Wilhelmina “Willa” Carson lives a fabulous life on her own island in Florida, with her loving husband restaurateur George Carson. Due Justice opens with Willa’s sister Carly Austin, (they grew up together after Willa’s mom died when Willa was 16, and her step-father took off and left her with the Austin family), reveals that she may know the identity of the body that was just fished out of the water in Tampa Bay. As Willa is a local judge, and Carly is a lawyer, they are ethically obligated to report what they know to the local authorities, but they don’t. Carly’s way of handling things is to take off and hide. Willa is very curious and uses this and her power as a judge to investigate Carly’s story. The problem with this is Carly is not totally open and honest with Willa. She definitely has some secrets in her life that Willa isn’t aware of.

Willa’s social circle, and work associates all seem to be tied in to the conspiracy Carly has revealed. Carly is a lawyer for a breast implant manufacturer who is facing many lawsuits. The founders of this company are three doctors with many problems of their own, including infidelity, theft, drugs and blackmail. As Willa investigates the murder, she uncovers much drama and many secrets surrounding the victim.

The characters are believable, but not the type of people I care to associate with. They are arrogant, rich, selfish and not afraid to bend the rules, and a lot of bed hopping. There are a few twists and turns in the book, but I wasn’t on the edge of my seat to see what would come next. Murder, blackmail and suicide give Diane Capri plenty to write about.

There was no foul language, and it’s a pretty G rated book. There is one scene of violence, but it is written very mildly, with no suspense. There are some typo’s of incomplete sentences that kept frustrating me, but I kept going. It’s not a quick read, Diane Capri’s writing styIe gives plenty of description which can sometimes slow the plot down. I believe you can read this book out of sequence in the series and not lose too much. Diane Capri does a good job of developing Willa’s character and gives a lot of information about her life, her island, George, and Willa’s job as a judge. Willa has a strong relationship with Carly’s mother, Kate, and Willa refers to her as her soul-mother. Kate shows up again in book #2, but not much in book #3. Carly doesn’t come back in either one. There are a few other characters that carry over to the other books in the series. I was given a copy of this book by the author, in exchange for my honest review.

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

One and a half stars. A fairly pedestrian legal "thriller" with few thrills in it, featuring a federal court judge, Willa Carson, who investigates a death after being drawn into the case by her childhood foster-sister.

The novel was not particularly well-written, and a number of errors remain in the final copy. For example, each chapter starts with the location, date and time, but often the action in a chapter continues immediately after the previous chapter, so it seemed pointless to do this, and in one chapter the main character has flown to Detroit, but the chapter still starts with the location being Tampa, so this just didn't work. This is also one of those novels that gives the minutiae of the protagonist's actions, from what brand shoes she put on, to what label of gin she drank, how far she jogged in the morning, to how long it took her to drive to the airport. Presumably the author does this in the hope that it adds "realism" to the story, but in reality it's just unnecessary waffle that induces boredom.

There are also numerous plot weaknesses and implausibilities, such as the murder victim being a plastic surgeon, who also did lab research to come up with a new type of silicone for great implants (so presumably trained in chemistry?), as well as writing an immunology textbook (which apparently he made a million dollars in royalties!!) and doing research in immunology - what a multi-talented doctor and scientist!

Our heroine Willa is apparently happy to corruptly use her position as a judge to get out of parking tickets, and even contemplates impeachment with equanimity. And amazingly, Willa's foster-mother, who moved from Detroit to Tampa when Willa did, seems to have been accepted into the crème of Tampa society, and even has a direct connection with the murder victim. Who woulda thunk that?? And in the end, the author appears to condone the murder that is central to the novel, because the victim was a "bad" man, who got what he deserved.

All in all, it was not a particularly interesting read. Inoffensive, but there's much better out there, so I won't waste my time on any more of this series (apparently it's the first of of a number of stories featuring Willa Carson).

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a first effort this novel is interesting and has enough mystery and action to be worth a read but it shows the rough edges. Since the protagonist is a federal judge, the actual crime-solving is limited and consists mainly of gleaning info from other characters and newspapers stories. That does create a bit of dullness to the story but Capri manages to pull off the mystery in spite of this limitation. The characters need more flesh and while some readers may enjoy the descriptions of Tampa society life and what people are wearing and such, I found it tedious. More time spent on character development would be nice.

Since there have been several novels since this I assume the quality has improved and I may check out the next book in the series. As a fan of Sue Grafton and Ian Rankin, this book falls far short but I am willing to see what develops.

[Ted Tayler · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Not enjoyable. End unreachable. Sorry"

As an avid fan of Lee Child I grabbed an opportunity to read something by this author, given the plaudits and recommendations. There's no comparison. I'm sorry, but the writing style offered a jarring moment on every other page. A sentence needs a verb or an object. The staccato delivery of three, two, and even one word 'sentences' might sound fine in a conversation. They are vital in a comedian's patter, which depends on perfect timing. On the page it merely frustrates. It did nothing to raise the tension, or contribute to the pace of the story. After 20% of this book I quit trying.

[Mark Earle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't like the judge/sleuth Willa. The mystery kept me going through the book. I found little sympathy for any of the characters so hope Florida still has the death penalty :-)
Great read if you enjoy stories filled with bitter, rich, characters overwhelmed by a sense of entitlement and untainted by ethics.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

You don't make a boring story with boring characters interesting by using the high drama (queen) style continuously. This book is really, really bad. Also, the legal research was inadequate. Which made it match the personalities.

[Coleen Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Sue Grafton's books, then you will enjoy Carly's Conspiracy!

[Jay Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Long Story

Willa had a hope Carly to help the killer of Dr Maxwell. Finding the damaged body in the bridge has Carly because knows the name when no one knows. The story is hidden with law in the deal of the insert of women with fake boobs. Carly saw the attacked the doctor and is fright for her life. Issues of the lawyers and suits provides most of the story. When the killers are revealed the ending is lost in to excitement.

[Britney · Rating 4 out of 5]

For being slower paced I really liked it. Most of the characters weren't likeable but I thought they were believable cause of the society they were in. The book shows what people will do to hide imperfections or things that may have people look down on them or "ruin their reputation."

[Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile"]

Own in: Hunt For Justice

[David Freas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sentence fragments and short choppy sentences gave this book a ‘jittery’ feel, reading more like Capri’s hastily jotted ideas in a rough draft. The plus side is it also imparted a more ‘conversational’ tone as if Capri is telling readers the story live instead of writing it down for them to read later, and gives the book an ‘edgier’ feel, conveying more of a sense of tension. Sadly, that tension never developed.

Capri drops lots of names without including how they relate to her main character or including it much later. Many of the characters, too, had nicknames so until I got a firmer handle on them I was never sure if ‘Tori’ was ‘Victoria’ and ‘Cilla’ was ‘Pricilla’ or entirely different characters. They made it hard to keep track of who was who and where they fit in. Referring to her car by its pet name, Greta, didn’t help matters.

This book had way too much detailed description of offices, etc., and way too many words devoted to describing Tampa, FL for my taste. Neither did anything to advance the story and both made scenes drag.

I never really warmed to Willa Carson, Capri’s main character, either. She comes across as a bit arrogant in some places and not above using the clout of her federal judgeship to get what she wants in others. She, like most characters – make that every character – in the book, is also hugely wealthy and I always have a hard time getting into characters like that. On the positive side, Willa has been married to the same man for seventeen years. That’s a nice change of pace from the single/divorced/widowed main character many books feature.

The climax of a book – especially a mystery – should be full of heart racing, pulse pounding, breathtaking tension. The reader should fear there’s a chance the main character won’t get through it alive, that the bad guy(s) will win. That never happened here. The climax held no more tension than the rest of the story.

And what kind of car, Ms. Capri, has its trunk 4 feet off the ground? The hatch on a jacked up SUV maybe but not a car trunk.

I’d give this book 1.5 stars if I could. I didn’t really hate it but it never rose to the point of being okay either.

I’ll consign Diane Capri's books in this series to my ‘when I have nothing else to read’ pile.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find this book to be much of a thriller. It was rather boring. It may have been because the characters were not likeable or believable. While I am willing to suspend disbelief when reading, there is a limit to how much I can disbelieve. I can't imagine any judge behaving the way Willa Carson did. I would vote for her impeachment from the bench.
Too many of the other characters were undeveloped. There were too many stereotypes of doctors and lawyers as being in it just for the money. Bad guys are more interesting if they have a human side to them.
The storyline was predictable and the ending not well thought out. There were too many things that should have been addressed and too many things that should have been cut. For example, one mention of Sapphire being Willa's gin of choice would have been enough for the whole book. The repeat references sounded like a product placement deal.
My other problem was with the editor as opposed to the author. Typos, grammar mistakes and words left of sentences are the kinds of things you expect in ARCs but not in published work.

I received a free copy of this book as part of a GoodReads give-a-way.

[Mark S · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting take on crime fiction in that the main character is a judge trying to solve a murder, so there's the supposed added tension of her trying not to be impeached by getting too involved (or something).

However, any such tension is defused by the character's wealth and the fact she just doesn't seem that attached to the job. I never got the impression she'd ultimately care that much if she was impeached, so struggled to care myself.

Lack of tension is the main fault of the book - the only character in danger isn't likeable and seemingly every chapter ends with a vaguely cliffhangery ending along the lines of:

'I thought I could trust her. But I was wrong.'

It's fine to use occasionally, but to end so many chapters in such a way just comes across as a bit desperate.

Overall, not a bad read, but not a particularly good one, despite an interesting concept. Didn't inspire me to read any of the author's other books.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder and mayhem, involving the Tampa old-money establishment, plastic surgery (lots and lots of silicone breasts), and family secrets, loyalties, and irresponsibility. Good characters and a solid story. The book could have used better editing, though.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish it. The grammar is atrocious and the main character is not very likeable.

[Jean · Rating 1 out of 5]

so boring, only read a few chapters then gave up.

[Jerry B · Rating 2 out of 5]

We glommed onto this novel as potentially a fresh approach to crime solving from the eyes of a sitting Florida federal court judge, Willa Carson. Unfortunately, we don’t believe new-to-us author Diane Capri did any better with this premise than did Margaret Maron with her southern-folks chatty Judge Deborah Knott tales. Herein the protagonist not only indulged in “private eye” activities ridiculously outside her scope, but threatened her own culpability and objectivity in the process. Basically a tale dominated by breast implant scandals and pending court cases, as well as the apparent death of a playboy plastic surgeon, we tired of the lack of action and real clues leading to a sudden, and of course brilliant, reveal so anticlimactic it turned our reading investment into close to a waste.

Willa herself was not particularly likable, nor frankly was anyone else in the story. That the resident Chief of Police would have played along with any of Willa’s shindigs is questionable at best, and the details of Willa's daily comings and goings were hardly entertaining. Indeed, the plot reflects a generally amateurish attempt to engage the reader, not at all enhanced by a futile attempt to generate suspense via short chapters with minor little cliffhangers. Though the series stands at seven novels to date, we’re not planning on experimenting further.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was no amazing amateur-detective work that solved the case - the clues were handed to her and she withheld them from the cops. And she risked her job (and license to practice law) basically the entire book. At what point does it go from "I always have to save Carly" to "maybe I should save myself, too?"
I'm only giving it 3 stars because the story was well-paced and I couldn't figure out the killer before the end.

Other complaints:
Willa's complaints about the keeping-up-with-the-Jones attitude of Tampa society - sure, it's nice when someone leaves you a mortgage-free house and you're already driving high-end cars. And don't have kids to send to private school
The comments about Priscilla's weight, and the wondering how long she'd have to run to work off the calories from the cookies. Just enjoy the cookie! It added nothing to the story and made me wonder if the author even noticed the similarity between those comments as compared to Morgan's rant about how women will do anything to look beautiful

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Due Justice - a review by Rosemary Kenny

When a rotting body turns up in the nearby marina, the press and authorities - in this case Judge Willa Carson - are immediately interested. What piques Willa's interest even more is the covert conversation she has subsequently with her adoptive 'sister', Carly, as Carly says she knows who the corpse may be, before refusing to go into any more detail!
The other hot topic of the moment is potential legal wrangles surrounding safe breast implants. When the two issues collide, the fall-out among the community and beyond, threatens Willa's peace of mind for Carly's safety as she avoids police scrutiny. What happens next will amaze and excite you in this winner by the Queen of Mystery and Murder, Ms Diane Capri. You won't want to miss this fascinating tale, so grab your copy today - and tell all your friends!

[Jill Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why the first Willa Carson book didn't get good ratings; details were sometimes contradictory or confusing and Capri uses a lot of incomplete sentences which drove me nuts. A few are OK, but she went overboard. Later books are much better.

When Michael Morgan's, a famous breast implant plastic surgeon, decomposed body surfaces in Tampa Bay with a bullet in its head, Federal Judge Willa Carson's "little sister" is caught in a game of greedy lawyers, blackmail and deceit and Carly is one of the suspect. Willa, protective of her sister, delves into the breast implant business and discovers all the big money and lawsuits from women who are developing auto-immune symptoms. Dr. Morgan found the secret to dispel the claims, but someone murders him before he could speak. Willa risks her job to uncover the conspiracy and keep Carly alive. 20. 6 Stars (11.18 to 12.4.19)