Bone Valley

By Claire Matturro

In her never-ending quest to log more billable hours, Sarasota lawyer Lilly Cleary agrees to defend Angus and Miguel, two fervent environmentalists who are being sued for libeling . . . an orange! In the Sunshine State, people take their citrus seriously—and there are powerful interests that refuse to sit idly by while a pair of whistle-blowing rabble rousers demean Florida's main cash crop.

Though the orange affair isn't quite the juicy case Lilly was looking for, it gets a lot stickier when one of the defendants is blown to bits right in front of her. Not one to take losing a case—or a client—lightly, whole-grain-loving, toxin-phobic Lilly will stop at nothing to get to the truth behind this and assorted other related murders. Which won't be easy, since everyone is lying—including the surviving environmentalist, who just happens to have an advanced degree from the University of the Streets . . . in bomb-making.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 17, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061969966

Claire Matturro

A former appellate attorney and former member of the writing faculty at Florida State University College of Law and the University of Oregon School of Law, Claire Hamner Matturro lives in Georgia.

Reviews for Bone Valley

[smithfieldjones · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Didn't Finish: Humor is always a wonderful addition to a book, many times even one of a very serious nature, but humor overdone--every piece of dialogue a witticism, becomes overwrought and tedious. To bad as it seemed to have potential. See also Wildcat Wine--where this was also the case. This is 2nd book from Ms. Matturro and in my case, it's 'two strikes' and you're out!

[mchenrysplace · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Didn't Finish: Humor is always a wonderful addition to a book, many times even one of a very serious nature, but humor overdone--every piece of dialogue a witticism, becomes overwrought and tedious. To bad as it seemed to have potential. See also Wildcat Wine--where this was also the case. This is 2nd book from Ms. Matturro and in my case, it's 'two strikes' and you're out!

[newsieq · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lilly Cleary is defending a client who libeled an orange -- yes, an orange, she practices in Florida after all. And she's helping an elderly not-so-handy man , Jimmie, from a bogus accident claim. The orange libeler is an environmental activist who's drawing attention to "gyp piles," toxic by-products that threaten to pollute the water supply. Jimmy winds up living with Lilly, as does a bird who's being rehabilitated. Then there's her attorney fiancé AND a hunky friend of the orange-libeler to contend with ... and a murder. All-in-all, Lilly is finding she has less time for her medical malpractice cases, in which she typically defends doctors. Bone Valley was an OK mystery, one which Floridians and environmentalist will especially like. In fact, I'm giving it to my friend Sue, who is both (at least she's a snowbird if that counts as a Floridian).Review based on publisher-provided copy of the book.03/29/2010

[rachelfromsarasota · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I just couldn’t resist this book – the latest in a mystery series set in SARASOTA! Aside from the joy of recognizing some Sarasota neighborhoods (Southgate) and landmarks (Brant’s used bookstore), I was drawn to the book because of its dedication to the Peace River (the 8th most endangered river in America, according to the author) and the people and organizations in Manatee, Sarasota, and Charlotte counties working to stop the expansion of phosphate mining in Florida. Like a good Dick Francis novel, I learned a good deal about the by-products of phosphate mining and a few how-tos about saving injured animals (though I honestly learned more about saving orphaned birds from Major Sylvia Gillotte, whose tireless nurturing saved a purple martin chick last spring). However, the book tries way too hard to be funny, often at inappropriate times in the plot. And while many of the characters are delightfully quirky, the heroine just tries too hard to be constantly clever, which ultimately detracts from the book. The author just can’t seem to decide what the focus of the book should be – the quirkiness of her characters, the serious issues of over-development and pollution, or the whodunnit factor itself. Too many subplots that go nowhere, and too many characters whose quirks are simply scattered broadside without any real development left me wishing the author had done a bit more pruning and brought a clearer focus to the novel.