Alibi

David Cavanaugh #3

by Sydney Bauer

"There she lay, her neck placed at a devilish angle on the Death Stone which acted like a pillow."

Jessica Nagoshi, the beautiful heiress to her father's billion dollar empire, is being groomed, along with her brother Peter, to take control of Nagoshi Inc. That is, until she is brutally murdered in the greenhouse of her father's extensive Wellesley estate.

Jessica was in her third year pre-law at the prestigious Deane University and the police enter the hallowed halls of the most expensive college in America to begin their investigation.

Boston criminal defence attorney David Cavanaugh is thrust into this high-society case when law student James Matheson is arrested for Jessica's murder. In James, he sees traces of his younger self—Matheson is dedicated, ambitious, but still idealistic enough to believe that justice will always prevail.

From the outset David is hampered by unspoken alliances, corporate malpractice, love, lust and a disastrous misplace of trust that will leave his case in tatters.

But in the end, nothing can prepare him for the truth—and the diabolical lengths some will go to in order to preserve their life of privilege.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Crime

504 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Sydney Bauer (Kimberly Scott) is the author of the crime series featuring Boston based criminal attorney David Cavanagh. Her debut novel Undertow, also the first novel in the series, was published in 2006 and won the Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for the best crime novel by an Australian Woman.

Sydney's background is in journalism and television. While studying for a Communications degree in the 1980s she worked as a copy girl at a major Australian newspaper and then secured a cadetship that led to a position as a crime, legal and courts reporter. She eventually moved on to become a features editor for an young women's magazine before finally changing direction completely and moving to television.

Reviews

[Arlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting away with murder, I like this best I think. All along I never even thought he was guilty of the crime.

[Natalie Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the lawyer with integrity and trusting in his instincts about people while sharing bits of his personal life relationships. His closest friends are a detective in the case he's working with the defendent, his girlfriend, also a lawyer, and his colleagues/staff for his law firm.

Shows the arrogance of elite families, college young men studying law and believing they are what makes the world go around. I had my doubts about a few characters, but missed the last clue that helped giveaway the truth. Definitely an intriguing story to finish.

[Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love her books. Not terribly well written but they are potboilers with lots of twists and turns. This one was no exception.

[Cara Wood]

An incompetent and emotional lawyer navigates a case full of stereotypes. Sydney Bauer explores the limits of the judicial system in this legal thriller.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was grand. And it had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, and guessing. Often the flowery 'prose' was really MORE than needed, as if the author was trying to show their thesaurus chops. But the story and the telling of it by the actor was excellent. Maybe I 4 star too many books, but if I enjoy them, and try to NOT be a G.D. literary critic, then a rollick'n goodread (sic) is worth it.

[Any Length · Rating 4 out of 5]

clever writer, interseting book. It took me a while to work out the guilty party and then found I was led up another garden path. Very imaginative. Well done. And tricky enough to
fool me. I liked that.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read from Sydney Bauer im so enjoying the David Cavanagha series, It took me a bit to get into this book and it took me almost a month to read (normally can finish a book in a week) but with that end glad I persisted. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good writing and unexpected ending

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this. First time I'd read Sydney Bauer. Since this one I've met the author and bought another 2 books. Great writing and easier to read.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay read

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to it as an audio book and the reader really brought all the characters to life. A story that has so many twists your never sure what is coming next.

[Cate Ellink]

Started a little slow but then every page had a new twist or turn. I couldn't read it fast enough to find out what had really happened.

[Becky]

Pretty good. Like How To Get Away With Murder without all the nastiness.

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent enough premise but the twists are blatantly telegraphed. Needed a serious edit - and a lesson on "show don't tell". Felt poorly researched which grated. Won't bother with others in the series.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ending with a real twist.

[Farah · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting plot, and unexpected ending