Invasion of Privacy

Nina Reilly #2

by Perri O'Shaughnessy

Twelve years ago, a young girl disappeared. Now a filmmaker has made a movie about it. The girl's parents call it invasion of privacy. A woman lawyer calls it murder.

The bloodstains on the courtroom floor belong to attorney Nina Reilly. Months earlier she'd been shot during a heated murder trial. She should have died that day. Instead, Nina has returned to the same Lake Tahoe court. Her only concession to her lingering fear is to give up criminal law. She figures an invasion of privacy lawsuit is a nice, safe civil action that will help her support her young son and pay the bills for her one-woman law office. She figures wrong.

Nina's client is Terry London, a filmmaker whose documentary about a missing girl is raising disturbing questions. The girl's distraught parents believe the film invades their privacy. But Terry's brutal murder changes everything. Breaking her promise to herself, Nina decides to defend Terry's accused murderer, a man she'd known years before and hoped never to see again. Suddenly the secrets of Nina's past are beginning to surface in a murder case that gets more dangerous every day. The evidence against her client is shocking and ironclad--a video of Terry's dying words. The only chance Nina has to save the man may be illegal. And if it fails, Nina may lose the case, her practice...and even her life.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Legal Thriller, Legal, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

MP3 CD

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Perri 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.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this 2nd book in the 'Nina Reilly' series, the defense attorney represents her ex-boyfriend when he's charged with murder. The book can be read as a standalone.



*****

Attorney Nina Reilly's client, Terry London, is being sued to prevent the release of her film about a long missing girl named Tamara Sweet.



In her film London suggests that Sweet is dead and that the crime is connected to the disappearance of several other girls in the Lake Tahoe area.



In the midst of the court proceedings Terry London is brutally murdered and Nina's ex-boyfriend Kurt - who is also the father of her son Bob - is accused of the crime. Turns out Kurt used to date Tamara and was also previously married to Terry London. So a lot of coincidences here.



Of course Nina decides to defend Kurt and runs around questioning witnesses and so on. There are plenty of possible suspects for the incidents, including Tamara's parents and friends.....and Terry's rough-guy neighbors. The case goes to court and the courtroom scenes are the best part of the story.



There are some interesting characters including Nina's Native American secretary; her private investigator/would-be boyfriend; and a nasty local defense attorney who doesn't like women rivals.



My problem with this book is that there's some egregious unethical lawyering and I was actually hoping the people involved would be exposed. For me the book could have been edited to be quite a bit shorter but I thought it was a decent mystery with an appropriate ending.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

She reckoned an invasion of privacy lawsuit would be a nice, safe, quiet way to practice law!

Well, obviously, she reckoned wrong!

Nina Reilly’s client, Terry London, has completed a rather noir and disturbing film documentary about a young girl who has been missing for many years. Although the girl’s parents initially cooperated in the film production in the hopes that it might lead to a resolution to the long-standing mystery of their daughter’s disappearance, they have now come to the belief that the film constitutes an invasion of their privacy and they are suing for damages. When the film maker is murdered, her checkered past, the missing girl’s history and Nina Reilly’s own history come together in a complex clash of events that makes for a very readable thriller.

While the ultimate resolution of events in INVASION OF PRIVACY was reasonably predictable and not particularly surprising, it remained entertaining and, indeed, quite compulsive reading. So much so, in fact, that I will be looking for other novels in the Nina Reilly series by the same author. Recommended to fans of the mystery and legal thriller genre.

Paul Weiss

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I read one of Perri O'Shaughnessy's books. This is the second installment in the Nina Reilly series. This is one of the best legal thrillers so far in her series. When Nina represents a civil case, things change on a dime for her, when her client hates her guts for a reason. And then her past reared its ugly head in this case, when we learn what happened to her in the past and how her family's affected. It's really an emotional roller coaster ride that thrown her for a loop. Old secrets and past wounds come up in her personal life, and a shocking twist or two surprises us all in the end. You really get involved and see what happens in Nina's world and inside her psyche.

[Teresa mcgaha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to remind myself a couple times when this book was published. It needed some serious editing, so what Nina went to a Monster truck show, the reader didn't need two pages of dialouge about it. I like this better than the second one and I know many people with similar book interest as mine love this series, I remain lukewarm about it. Nina has decided she will no longer handle criminal cases and is looking to be a small town lawyer handling divorces and such. Only when the past smacks her in the face does she find herself in the middle of even more chaos. She "steals" a client from another lawyer and represents himm for murder even though there is conflict of interest. Her relationship with her son has hit some major bumps in the road and he even runs away searching for answers. While I enjoyed the courtroom scenes and she is very cunning as a lawyer, much of the side stories should be omitted. I plan on reading the next book before deciding if this is a series I MUST read or time to part ways.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good book! I don't think I have read an O'Shaughnessy book before and I'm a bit sorry I didn't start with the first one. Guess I'll pick it up soon. I was a bit smug at first. Obviously this action A would lead to result B. No, it didn't work that way. Start with A and you might wind up examining R. I kept getting misled throughout the book and the soft sweet ending was a big surprise. I look forward to reading more O'Shaughnessy.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 2nd series just wasn't as good as the 1st, but Definitely redeemed itself at the ENDING!!!

[Robert Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed the book!

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without a doubt, this was one of the most unusual murder mysteries I have ever read. I have never met such an evil, bone chilling antagonist that wasn't written into a horror novel before!

Nina think that she is safe defending a filmmaker from having her film of long ago disappearance, suppressed. Little does Nina know that this is going to become so much more.


With this novel we learn so much more about Nina and her son Bobby, Nina's brother Matt and even about Nina herself.

This turns into one of the most seemingly convoluted mysteries I have ever read. Several times I wanted to just put it down, but something about it kept calling to me to finish it-that I would never figure out who done it and why. I would never have a moments peace unless I knew what happened. I'm glad I kept at it, because the ending was just WOW!

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I read this one a long time ago, but I didn't remember the ending and it was good to get back to this character. I really enjoyed this one. It had the thriller aspect as well as a good mystery.

Nina seems to be a little over the top in her practice of the law. Would you really let someone go on trial when you know they didn't commit the crime? It was an interesting dilemma that is for sure.

I thought I had it figured out, but didn't really in the end.

I am planning to read more of this author in the future. 5 out of 5 for me.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In part it may have been the reader, but overall I found the whole case hard to buy into from a legal standpoint and the relationship between the main character and her son, a relationship which played a central role in the story, totally lacking in depth. I have no idea why I stuck with this one to the end!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books keep you coming back for more. This was my third and I can't wait to start my fourth. Nina is exciting and you never know what she's going to do next

This is the third book I read and I can't wait to start the fourth. I love Nina and can't wait to see what she's going to do next

[Phillip III · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy I found these ladies. They are awesome authors. They put together complex legal plots and surround the story with richly developed characters.

Can't wait to start reading the third in the series!

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the crime novel, YOU CHOOSE
and the thriller, WOMAN IN THE WOODS

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, maybe this is a 1.5 because I kept reading it, but it definitely isn't a legal thriller as it was made out to be! Mostly, it's about poor Nina who can't decide which guy she wants. Borderline Harlequin romance.

[Rebecca Cecil · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bloodstains on the courtroom floor belong to attorney Nina Reilly. Months earlier she'd been shot during a heated murder trial. She should have died that day. Instead, Nina has returned to the same Lake Tahoe court. Her only concession to her lingering fear is to give up criminal law. She figures an invasion of privacy lawsuit is a nice, safe civil action that will help her support her young son and pay the bills for her one-woman law office. She figures wrong.

Nina's client is Terry London, a filmmaker whose documentary about a missing girl is raising disturbing questions. The girl's distraught parents believe the film invades their privacy. But Terry's brutal murder changes everything. Breaking her promise to herself, Nina decides to defend Terry's accused murderer, a man she'd known years before and hoped never to see again. Suddenly the secrets of Nina's past are beginning to surface in a murder case that gets more dangerous every day. The evidence against her client is shocking and ironclad--a video of Terry's dying words. The only chance Nina has to save the man may be illegal. And if it fails, Nina may lose the case, her practice...and even her life

[booksalltheway · Rating 4 out of 5]

not really 4 stars but 3.5

i will go into the description of the book I just wanted to write how I felt about it. the mystery containing inside the story was spell bounding at the start it was quite hard to figure out the reason behind the murders but everything started making sense as the story progressed.

the courtroom scene was amazing at the same time disappointing compared to the first book as it was shorter.

throughout the whole book my only disappointment was Nina Riley (yes! the very main character of the book) that's the reason why i gave 3.5 instead of 4. I really tried liking her but I simply couldn't because of the two reason; first her way of dealing with her son and second she is leading on three man together. but other than that i love the whole book.

My favorite dialogue:- "she only recorded what was already there, the dirt, cobwebs, and cockroaches. i suggest to the court that she was invited in and it's bad law to try to make her pretend the house was clean.

I will recommend this book to every mystery reader especially the courtroom scene lovers

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the earlier installments in this series, and though it is good, the sisters who write this series don't really hit their stride until later in the series. The legal stuff is good, but the heroine is as little bit quick to lay aside proper ethics in order to protect her family. While I understand this tempatation would be very real, it cheapened her in my opinion.

The authors write a decent mystery and this time around they manage to plant some really decent clues that both aid the reader in their literary detective endeavor and obscure the identity of the real villain. They let the reader get very, very close with these clues, enough to feel satisfied that he was a reasonably effective detective, correctly applying the clues.

Some of the romantic issues facing our heroine get in the way for me personally. In this case, some of the romantic entanglements were necessary for the story and help me see who some of the characters I encountered in later installments actually were and why the relationship she has with Bob's father is what it is. However, I felt the authors spent a bit too much time with these issues and for me, they did not add to the story.

Still, it is a very well written piece of work and I'll be reading more as I find them at certain discount places. I probably will demonstrate my fiscal responsibility by refusing to buy new copies of this author's work, but they all seem worth reading to me.

[Lori Robinett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to keep reminding myself that this book was written several years ago (1996). The main character does a decent job of juggling the responsibilities in her life most of the time, but she works too much, and allows that work to blur the lines between work and personal. My biggest gripe though, is the damsel in distress situations the authors put her in. I want to read about strong, independent women, not a woman who keeps men dangling on the line and who depends on them to save her.

All in all, an interesting read. The mystery was compelling, although the resolution of the mystery was dissatisfying given Nina's penchant for ignoring the law. Characters shouldn't always be good, but I have a tough time with attorneys who aren't honest while dealing with the system.

[Jane Thomson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost quit reading this book at the one third mark. The author did not seem to develop the characters adequately before showing the readers their behaviour. That left me as a reader unsympathetic to their problems. There is a very good plot and that is what made me read to the end.
The main character, leaves the raising of her son to her brother and wife while she works 18hour-days, then lashes out when serious problems arise. I found this very hard to accept.
There were some good aspects to this story-especially moral dilemmas when faced with adversity, but they didn't save the writing for me.

[Amy Winsand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this murder mystery, from lawyer Nina Reilly's involvement, not only in the murder of her client, but the legal entanglement and entire story line. It was full of twists and surprises, which I always appreciate. It was written with the right dose of intrigue without getting too complicated in legalese. I would definitely read more of Perri O'Shaugnessy, which I understand is a pen name for two sisters, Mary and Pamela O'Shaugnessy. I will be on the lookout or search the library system for "Motion to Suppress", their first Nina Reilly book.

Definitely recommend!

[Cyndi Ries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nina returns to the courtroom, even though the last time she was there she was seriously injured. Terry London, filmmaker, whose documentary about a missing girl raising disturbing questions is probably the cause of her murder. Nina defends the man accused of her murder. Very interesting legal thriller #2 that looks at the parameters of invasion of privacy and using that information to distribute to the public for profit.

[JacQuelyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consistently good writing

As with her first book in the Nina Reilly series, the story is well constructed, the characters more than stick figures and the plot keeps your interest. I am enjoying this series very much.

[Phyllis · Rating 4 out of 5]

well, bob's father turns up and is immediately arrested for the shooting death of his wife.

Paul is pushed out of shape thinking nina will fall back in love with him. she does defend him in court to the peril of her and bob.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this author way back in my formative years and loved all the books. Now? Hated it. Misogynistic undertones and lack of depth on all characters. I finished it to know the ‘who done it’ but it was a rough ride. Interesting to think about my difference of opinion between now and 25 years ago.

[Karen Frye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the twisted plot. Also was happy that it wasn't a parallel plot to the first in the series.

[Teresa Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book by Perri O'Shaughnessy.

[Michelle Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am enjoying the series

[Phyllis M. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn't have thought that person did it, right away. Huh.

[ElaineY · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first one. The Big Reveal wasn't so much a surprise as merely following the paces to apprehend the killer. Very anti-climactic.

[Megs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Jubilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book! I learned more about Nina and who her son’s father is! The book is creepy. I had to put it down a few times.
So far I love this series.