Her Deadly Game
Her Deadly Game
By: Robert Dugoni
[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2023]
“Never defend without a plan to attack.”
This is Robert Dugoni’s latest book with the potential to (hopefully) become a series.
It’s a legal thriller/locked room mystery about an Irish family’s struggling law firm, a daughter set out to prove herself, an investment advisor accused of killing his wealthy disabled wife, and a high stakes game of chess.
Dugoni can write a lot of genres very well. When I first started this book it felt a little slow, but once I realized it was more of a legal thriller than a suspense thriller I was able to settle in more and enjoy it properly.
As far as the mystery aspect goes, I didn’t have it completely figured out. I had generalities, but, based on his author’s note, he used a lot of outside help to develop the plot and it shows. There were definitely some complexities to how the wife died.
It was fitting for Dugoni to write around this quote:
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” — Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
The mystery, the clues, the family dynamics, the legal drama— there is a lot to like in this book!
My only critiques are that I got tired of hearing about how uncharacteristically hot it was in Seattle, there was a little bit of hand-holding in describing some of the legal terms or proceedings, the overuse of the word ‘intimated’, and the fact that we didn’t get much information about the deceased until the end when we didn’t care as much.
Cast of Characters
Because I can see this becoming a series, let’s talk about the characters:
Keera- main protagonist, former prosecuting attorney, now defense attorney working at her family’s firm in the wake of an ended abusive relationship; was a child chess prodigy; wishes she had a better relationship with her father, the selfish alcoholic she can’t depend on but has a lot of similar characteristics to him
(Also she eats carrots, salami, crackers, and a brick of cheddar cheese for lunch and that resonates with me)Patsy (Patrick)- a.k.a. The Irish Brawler, successful defense attorney well-known for his risky antics and out-of-the-box trial strategies; also known for his alcoholism which has hurt his reputation, his firm, and most importantly, his family
”In his day, Patsy had been fearless and unpredictable. Now, Keera feared he was just unpredictable.”
Ambrose- the prosecutor and former boyfriend of Keera; determined to beat and humiliate Keera in court
Rossi- detective for the prosecution; interested in Keera (will this relationship develop in future books?); stuck between working for a prosecutor he doesn’t respect and wanting to do the right thing
Ella & Maggie- Keera’s sisters who also work at the firm; Ella is the smart, business-minded hard-working paperwork queen; Maggie is the self-proclaimed black sheep of the family who is good at playing the victim
Bonus: this crosses over with the Tracy Crosswhite series as two of the detectives put on the case are Vic and Del- The Italian Stallions. We could see some more interaction here in future books as well.
I think if this ends up being a stand-alone book I’ll be a little disappointed and feel like there wasn’t quite enough character resolution. But since I have high hopes for some others, I’ll let that slide!
Playing Chess Not Checkers
All the reality show players who use that phrase would enjoy the chess part of this story. Because we all know chess is a more complicated long game than measly checkers, right?
In his author’s note, Dugoni stated: “I wanted to create a protagonist who came from a dysfunctional family, but who had escaped by becoming a chess prodigy. Why chess? Because I knew very good trial attorneys who were also very good chess players… They told me in law and in chess you strategized not just your next move but for the many moves your opponent might make and how you might combat those moves.”
In this way, the chess aspect was a compelling addition.
Dugoni had Keera playing an ongoing online chess game with an unknown opponent named The Dark Knight. As the chess game progressed, the trial progressed. Keera’s defensive and offensive moves in the chess game represented her strategy in the trial, so we got a bit of foreshadowing as we saw the moves play out.
The downside to including the chess game was that it was a bit technical. It was a ‘pawn to h6,’ ‘knight to h2’ description throughout. Unless you’re very familiar with chess, it won’t make much visual sense to you. I think a lot of readers will skim over those sections and possibly be frustrated by them.
People who know how to play chess will probably enjoy them.
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve played chess. But if the chess game Dugoni included in there is one between two really good chess players, I’m tempted to go back through with an actual chess board in front of me and play the game out myself, maybe learn a few things!
Things I Learned
“Ghost guns were the bane of police officers, made from a kit that could be purchased online or at gun shows without the buyer providing identification and without a background check. They also did not have a traceable serial number.”
This was crazy to learn about! You can 3D print a gun. Technology is nuts. There are lots of opinions about gun control these days. I don’t even know what ‘gun control’ even means anymore. But I am glad that they added some restrictions to these gun kits that weren’t there before. Because the guns were not assembled, they had (prior) not been treated like real guns and thus anyone—even a kid— could order these kits. Definitely a problem.
But according to an NPR article in 2022 they are now treating these ghost guns like real guns: requiring background checks to buy them, requiring serial numbers to be put on in manufacturing and that existing ghost guns get serial numbers added to them, and not allowing criminals to buy them.
I think that is a fantastic rule change and I’m surprised they didn’t see the potential problems with these things when they first arrived on the scene!
And seriously… 3D printing is like magic to me. Can we just 3D print clones by now or something?!
They talk about Rainier Square Tower in the book and how it looks like a long water slide. So obviously I had to know what that looked like. If you Google images of it, you’ll see it does indeed look like a water slide.
There is a move in chess called ‘castling your king’ in which “your rook and king switch places on the board. It’s the only move in chess that allows a player to move two pieces at the same time.” I have never heard of this in my entire life. Which isn’t entirely surprising but still… it blows my mind a little bit that move exists. I looked up more about it and it’s not quite what Dugoni described in the book. It’s not an exact switching of places, but the King moves two spaces and the rook then moves two spaces over the King. However— you can’t do this if the King or the rook has moved already in the game, if the King is in check or if the spaces he moves across would put him in check. Anways. Little fun chess fact that I’ll probably never use correctly in my life.
Another chess move: the fianchetto bishop. This is a thing. But I can’t explain any of it to you.
I have read a lot of legal thrillers. How am I just learning these phrases now?:
SODDI defense: Some Other Dude Did It.
‘voir dire’ which means “a preliminary examination of a witness or a juror by a judge or counsel.”
Omnibus hearing: “An omnibus hearing is a pretrial hearing. It is usually held soon after a defendant's arraignment. The main purpose of the hearing is to determine the evidence, including testimony and evidence seized at the time of arrest.”
Case in Chief: “The portion of a trial whereby the party with the burden of proof in the case presents its evidence. The term differs from a rebuttal, whereby a party seeks to contradict the other party's evidence.”
[definitions from Wikipedia]
Recommendation
If you don’t like legal thrillers, you probably wouldn’t enjoy this book— there is a lot of courtroom drama and trial strategizing throughout the book.
As long as that doesn’t describe you, I think this book is worth reading!
I read it very quickly and was engaged the entire time wondering not only how this deadly game would play out, but would Keera and her father reconcile? Would her father pull through for her when she needed him the most?
Dugoni continues to be one of my favorite authors. He spins a good story, writes well and creatively, AND does it without all the swearing and sexual content other writers use.
Even if you don’t like legal thrillers, check out some of Robert Dugoni’s other books!
[Content Advisory: 2 f-words; 26 s-words; no sexual content]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This book just released March, 28, 2023. You can purchase a copy of this book via my affiliate link below.
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