I’ve been a big fan of Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series, and am always happy to see he has a new book coming out. Then, seeing the story features an entirely new set of characters, I think “hmmm…we’ll see.” I received a copy of Her Deadly  Game , which was sent to me (in exchange for my honest review) by Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley, and I eagerly dove in!

First off, I still don’t understand how Dugoni writes about women so well. That sounds horribly sexist, and maybe it is, but Keera Duggan is up there with Tracy Crosswhite as a strong female protagonist and a woman to root for as she builds her life as a criminal defense attorney in Seattle. Keera’s back story is that she had built a solid reputation as a prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. She bailed on that and joined her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father (whose alcoholism is apparently the primary reason the firm is in trouble). Keera’s goal is to restore the firm’s (and her father’s) reputation, along with her legal career.

An uber-wealthy financial wizard named Vince LaRussa against charges of murdering his also-wealthy wife. To complicate things, she was confined to a wheelchair, they were just beginning the ordeal of a really nasty divorce, so Vince is facing life in prison. The prosecutor just happens to be Keera’s former lover, who apparently wants to totally destroy her in court – and did I mention this is her first murder case as a defense attorney?

A big plot component is the fact that Keera was a competitive chess player growing up, and an online game with a virtual opponent is a critical piece of the story.  The well-crafted legal thriller may have a bit more chess than some readers are in for, but even though I haven’t played chess for 50 years and was never very good at it, I found it fascinating and that it added to the family dynamics as well as the plot. I’m  looking forward to more stories featuring Keera and her family – and Rossi, the police detective who I am pretty sure will be a recurring character – I hope so! In the meantime, this book was EXACTLY what I needed to get my mind off the election, the pandemic, and  my own trivial worries. Five stars again for Dugoni, who has become one of the reliable writers I love (Crais, Connelly, Harper).