10. Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni

#1 Keera Duggan, Seattle lawyer

listened on Audible

396 pgs.

2023
Adult Murder Mystery -  legal thriller
Finished 2/13/2026
Goodreads rating:  4.42 
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Seattle

My comments: I love murder mysteries, but I'm not the biggest fan of being on the legal side of things.   Not sure why, although I used to love the John Grisham novels - from the legal side.  This was a great mystery, but the way the answers came together were a bit perplexing to me ... sort of hard to believe.  But it kept me interested and thinking, and although I disliked most of the characters, I'm happy to have read it.  I do like Robert Dugoni.

Goodreads synopsis:  A defense attorney is prepared to play. But is she a pawn in a master’s deadly match? A twisting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

Keera Duggan was building a solid reputation as a Seattle prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. For the competitive former chess prodigy, returning to her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father is the best shot she has. With the right moves, she hopes to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father, and her career.

Keera’s chance to play in the big leagues comes when she’s retained by Vince LaRussa, an investment adviser accused of murdering his wealthy wife. There’s little hard evidence against him, but considering the couple’s impending and potentially nasty divorce, LaRussa faces life in prison. The prosecutor is equally challenging: Miller Ambrose, Keera’s former lover, who’s eager to destroy her in court on her first homicide defense.

As Keera and her team follow the evidence, they uncover a complicated and deadly game that’s more than Keera bargained for. When shocking information turns the case upside down, Keera must decide between her duty to her client, her family’s legacy, and her own future.

51. The Substitution Order by Martin Clark

listened to audio - Chirp
narrated by David Aaron Baker
Unabridged audio (13:22)
2016 Knopf Publishing
352 pgs.
Adult mystery/legal thriller
Finished 3/11/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.92 - 1051 ratings
My rating:  5
Setting:   contemporary suburban Virginia

First line/s:  "For years I was an excellent lawyer, as honest and effective as you would ever want, and I'm a decent enough person, and despite my mistakes, which -- I concede -- were hellacious, I deserve better than this misery."

My comments:  Talk about clever!  This mesmerizing story was so well crafted that I couldn't put it down.  A remarkably likable protagonist weaves his way through nail-biting trauma to come out just fine on the other side.  I don't usually like legal thrillers as much as I like police procedurals, but as long as I could recall the cast of characters I was totally entrenched in the story.  It was really good.  And I was really sad when it ended.  Id love to know what becomes of Kevin Moore now.

Goodreads synopsis:  From Martin Clark--praised by Entertainment Weekly as "our best legal-thriller writer"--comes a wickedly clever, tenderhearted, and intricately plotted novel about a hard-luck lawyer's refusal to concede defeat, even as fate, the court system, and a gang of untouchable con artists conspire against him.
          Kevin Moore, once a high-flying Virginia attorney, hits rock bottom after an inexplicably tumultuous summer leaves him disbarred and separated from his wife. Short on cash and looking for work, he lands in the middle of nowhere with a job at SUBstitution, the world's saddest sandwich shop. His closest confidants: a rambunctious rescue puppy and the twenty-year-old computer whiz manning the restaurant counter beside him. He's determined to set his life right again, but the troubles keep coming. And when a bizarre, mysterious stranger wanders into the shop armed with a threatening "invitation" to join a multimillion-dollar scam, Kevin will need every bit of his legal savvy just to stay out of prison.
          A remarkable tour of the law's tricks and hidden trapdoors, The Substitution Order is both wise and ingenious, a wildly entertaining novel that will keep you guessing--and rooting for its tenacious hero--until the very last page.