Malice in Miami earns 5/5 “Florida Man” Headlines...Engaging Fun!
Jamie Quinn is an attorney by education, family law by practice, and honorable by reputation, but a “too good to pass” opportunity has arisen precipitating a career change as the trustee of The Andrea Lowenthal Memorial Foundation. Sure there’s an crash course in art history, dress-up galas, and millions of dollars to manage, the prospect is exciting! But exciting turns larcenous!
There’s a few outstanding court cases to close out, but fellow attorney Nelda Santos desperately needs Jamie’s expertise with a very emotional lawsuit against a large corporation. Her part will be a quick and easy: find a way to serve previously hard to serve papers and set up a DNA confirmation. But, when the case evolves from workman comp demands to complicated paternity issues to personal injury claims that could translate into millions...not so quick, not so easy, and not so devoid of danger.
With legal complications, family issues, and trips to museums that end her in jail, Jamie finds comfort with her boyfriend Kip Simons, but his passion for all things flora and fauna leads him to the Everglades...be careful!
Barbara Venkataraman has woven several issues into a engaging drama which seems to epitomize the David and Goliath scenario; it may be greed vs humanity or man vs environment or just man vs man or woman. Whatever the battle, Barbara provides realistic situations for the characters to manage, avoid, and solve. The drama is at times intense with a realism that might make you question whether it’s “based on true events.” Beyond a seemingly cut and dry lawsuit and the challenges with her foundation work, there was just the right amount of peril “shot” at the characters, and a big fist-pump “Yes” at the end. Barbara uses in a first-person narrative from Jamie’s perspective giving me a vicarious role as “I.” It is steady-paced with easily consumed chapters. Although the real drama and peril seemed slow to rev up, it’s definitely the journey that made this a real page-turner. Her descriptive language does well to paint the Florida settings, the museums and art work, Everglades, and the various characters from fashionable to alligator boots, and the dialogue, witty and informative, illustrates well the characters’ personalities which make this series and ensemble easy to recommend.
I don’t just read. I read. I learn. Then I explore and learn. Then read and learn some more. In Barbara’s book, I googled pythons, python hunting, and other flora and fauna native or imported to Florida, but it was the tour of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, Florida, that gets added it to my bucket list. Then the language lessons! My favorite is “kuchi zamishi, a Japanese phrase for when you’re not hungry but you eat because your mouth is ‘lonely.’” Wow! My mouth must be so despondent!