Suspicion of Betrayal

Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana #4

by Barbara Parker

Attorney Gail Connor finds her happy, successful life turned upside down by a stalker who pursues and then abducts her eleven-year-old daughter and joins forces with her jealous ex-husband and new fiance+a7 to find Karen and deliver their own brand of justice. 40,000 first printing. Tour.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Legal Thriller, Adult, Crime, Romance

347 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Barbara Parker was an American mystery writer. She wrote 12 novels, the first of which, Suspicion of Innocence, was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first mystery novel by an American author. Parker was on the national board of the Mystery Writers of America and was the chair of its membership committee for two years.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Freyja]

Suspicion of Betrayal is a novel about a female lawyer (oh, hey look my dream job) whose life falls apart on the basis of a series of anonymous attacks on her and her family. It is also the first Barbara Parker novel I have read so far.

Since the identity of the villain dangled over my head the entire time, I didn't dare put the book down despite not wanting to finish it anymore due to how slow I think the story progressed. Also, I really wanted to find out whether or not the couple I ship went canon or not (spoiler: it didn't). It's open-ended though! So I'll just assume Dail (Dave + Gail) set sail.

[✨ Gramy ✨]

Gail Conners is a attorney in Miami. She is a single mother of a daughter, Karen. She is romantically interested in a powerful criminal attorney, Anthony Quintana. As the story goes on, twists and turns await the reader, and blood is spilled and fingers are pointed. Anthony Quintana is a Cuban-American, whose jealousy of Gail's ex-husband causes him to overstep his bounds. Gail Connors should be getting smarter as the series goes on, but she still makes potentially dangerous errors in judgment. Her judgmental attitude makes it difficult for her to work out problems instead of turning away.

[Melissa]

Competently written and I like the Miami setting. Fairly early on, the plot, despite some modern twists, felt very familiar. I am looking at you Dorothy Sayers. Unfortunately despite being written sixty years later (at least) this iteration of gaudy night had a less compelling romance and not nearly the depth of reflection as regards class privilege, sex bias and misogyny. It did have more graphic sexual content and violence.

[Conina]

Лек съспенс.
Лека любов.
Бива.
Всъщност съм бясна, хахаха, сега си спомням детайли от книгата и тук, дами и господа, ще има спойлъри.
Тъй. Предупредих.
Та значи това е книга номер 4 от поредица, ала съм чела само тази. За отделно четиво е добре структурирана, няма напомнямки от стари книги или техни преразказвания (една от най-дразнещите черти на Хари Потър поредицата), та си се чете добре.
Обаче.
Ами хич не можах да вникна в мега любовта между двамата герои. Всъщност през абсолютно цялото време се надявах Гейл да се прибере при бившия си съпруг и да прати по дяволите Куинтана. Защо? Ами защото той през цялото време я манипулира, лъже и съсипва живота на бившия й. Това нормално ли е? Казва, че й вярва, че я обича, но при мисълта бившият й да се докаже най-сетне като отговорен мъж с успехи, Куинтана го саботира най-нагло. Това не мога да преглътна. Гейл също се кълнеше, че не може заради последниците от фалита на Ex спрямо дъщеря й, а накрая това остана някак-си неизчистено и... ох, ами не мога да го преглътна. Поне накрая имаше здравия разум да не се върне при него с подвита опашка (въпреки че според всички следващи книги от тази поредица, се случва точно това, *взъдъх*).
А, и за двойка, която е решила да няма деца, от къде се пръкна това бебе?!

[Meredith]

Given I was eh about the previous book I'd read, I'm not sure why I came back for more. I am now cured.

Now granted, if you want to read a book that is structured like a soap opera, you're likely love this. But if that's not what you want, you'll likely be frustrated. Gail and Anthony have a "passionate" love - they can't imagine living without one another, have never felt the thrill they feel with each other, and yet they do things that bring out the worst in each other. They make stupid choices. Anthony uses his power out of jealousy and it's just stupid.

But it's completely in keeping with what a couple from a soap would do - and as a watcher I'd forgive even though I'd stay away from such a person in real like.

[Jessica]

I only wish I knew a little bit more Spanish. Found myself looking some of the phrases up so I didn't get lost in what was being said. Now I feel like I need to find books 1-3 as I didn't know this was part of a series!

[Richard Guerrero]

I keep saying the same thing, a pretty good book. The characters are good but it’s getting a little too much at times. I’ll keep reading because I invested so much time already and got to know the characters.

[Pat]

Good series’s

[Cathi Cantrell]

Great story & characters... gripping, a page turner! Satisfied my appetite for suspense & kept me on the edge of my seat!

[Carolyn]

Now I need to get #5..... Suspicion of Malice...... These are not recent publications......

[Jesi Herman]

Kind of a fun mystery but it kind of felt like nothing happened at the same time

[Kelly]

Good story. Not the ending I expected.

[Louise]

a good solid mystery! I'll read more!

[Kathryn Bain]

I enjoyed this book. I thought I knew who the culprit was then I changed my mind. Then I went back to my first guess. It didn't matter, I was wrong on both counts. I like that she was able to fool me.

The only real problem I had with this was the stupid things the heroine did. She put up with a boyfriend who was a jerk. She borrowed money from her law office trust account. Not smart and not a good thing for a heroine.

Overall though, I did like the book and would recommend it. It held my interest and made me want to see how it panned out.

[Laura]

This book was mildly entertaining but did not really capture my attention. I think my main problem with this book was that none of the characters had any redeeming qualities that made me care about them. They were all selfish and immature. I think a more likable character would have drew me into the story more.

[Dawn Wsrkentin]

This was an ok read for me and honestly did keep me guessing until the end. I received the book as a " pass along" and did not realize that this book was number 4 in a series. Likely will NOT go back to the beginning to book 1 because I am not sure that I like the Gail character enough to care about her beginnings. Will need to do more research first

[Marti]

i have read other novels by barbara parker, even ones with gail connor, her daughter karen, and anthony quintana, but this one did not seem to me to be as good as the others. characters seemed wishy washy and did things which didn't seem to hang together. guess they can't all be winners.

[Marie]

It took me quite awhile to get into this book. I found when I put it down, I never wondered what was happening, never thought about it. About 3/4 of the way through it got more interesting and turned out to be an ok book.

[Julie]

Suspicion of Betrayal by Barbara Parker (2000)

[Diane]

Rather intricate story about threats, murder, romance, and an independent woman trying to make it on her own.

[Leslie]

I really liked this book.......it kept you guessing till the very end! There are 8 books in the "Suspicion of __________" series and I hope to read them all!

[Missy]

I really enjoy Parker's writing style and her main character, Gail Connor. I would recommend this book.

[Jeannie Lewis]

The main character seemed very weak to me. I was looking for a strong female & male leading character. I will, however, get the next book because I am dying to find out the what happens!!

[Nancy]

Wasn't sure who the stalker was 'til the end...Kinda surprising. too Good story!

[Jackie Simons]

Read 12/01

[Melissa Sellers]

I didn't want to put this book down to go to bed! That's a rare thing!

[Edy Carder]

loved this book

[Brenda Kay McClusky]

Best Suspicion book yet

Great plot and a much better read than book four. Starting book six tomorrow! Keep them coming Mrs. Parker...truly entertaining.

[Toesnorth's mom]

stupid plot, stupid characters