Book Review: Suspicion of Vengeance

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Suspicion of Vengeance     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Barbara Parker
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Legal Setting
Series: Gail Conner / Anthony Quintana # 6
Dutton, August 2001, $23.95, 368 pp.

After everything that has happened to them in the past, lawyers Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana are trying to make their relationship work. He hires divers to try and find the engagement ring he threw into the muddy pond. Their joint profession brings them closer together when Gail’s mother asks her to help the son of an old family retainer appeal his death sentence.

Kenny Ray Clarke has been convicted for the vicious death of Amber Dardson twelve years ago. He has been sentenced to death and the appeal process is rapidly running out. Gail is reluctantly dragged into taking on the appeal. Anthony knows what the mental price on a lawyer the process takes and reluctantly helps her in order to spare her a nervous breakdown. By the time they are fully acquainted with the facts of the case, Anthony and Gail believe their client is innocent, but only have days left to prove their case before Kenny receives a lethal injection.

SUSPICION OF VENGEANCE is one of the author’s best Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana novels to date. Barbara Parker has thoroughly researched the death penalty issue and it is more than likely readers on the fence will come away converted to her belief that its too open for human error. This novel is an exciting romantic legal thriller that will have massive cross-genre appeal.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner