Breach of Promise: A Novel

By Perri O'Shaughnessy

Broken hearts. Broken promises. Deadly consequences.

In glitzy Lake Tahoe, couples break up every day. But few are as successful as Lindy and Mike Markov, who built a $200-million business together--before Mike took up with a younger woman. Now he's claiming he doesn't owe Lindy a dime since they never married.

Attorney Nina Reilly, struggling to make a living in her one-woman office and raise a young son alone, agrees to take Lindy's case. Nina knows winning is a long shot, even with a brilliant jury consultant and a palimony expert on her side. It's the kind of case--full of passion and explosive secrets--that could make a fortune for a young lawyer. Or drive someone to commit murder--for love, money . . . or the right verdict.

New York Times bestselling author Perri O'Shaughnessy has created a wonderfully unique and unpredictable character in Nina Reilly, a tough, tenderhearted attorney and single mother who has been hailed by critics as "one of the most interesting heroines in legal thrillers today" (the San Jose Mercury News).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 7, 2000
• ISBN: 9780440609506

Perri O'Shaughnessy

Perri O'Shaughnessy is the pen name for two sisters, Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy. Together they have written twelve Nina Reilly legal thrillers, a stand-alone thriller, KEEPER OF THE KEYS, and one short story collection, SINISTER SHORTS. Pamela, a graduate of Harvard Law School, practiced law in Monterey, San Pablo, and South Lake Tahoe, California, for sixteen years. She lives in northern California. Mary worked as a multimedia editor for many years. She lives with her husband and children near San Francisco.

Reviews for Breach of Promise

[n.w.moors-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oliver Rathbone takes on a breach of promise case. The young man, Killian Melville, involved insists he didn't ask the woman to marry him, but her family is suing anyway. Monk must investigate since no one understands why Melville won't marry the beautiful and eligible heiress. Meanwhile, Hester is nursing a soldier, a survivor of the Indian mutiny badly wounded in a street brawl afterward.I've been reading the Monk books in order and I think this is the best one yet. The storylines are strong and meld together at the end in a very satisfactory manner. More than the mysteries I enjoy the way Ms. Perry writes about Victorian society and this book covers both attitudes toward women of that era and the way in which the deformed are treated. Having finally resolved his relationship with Runcorn in the last book, Monk is now free to deal with his own feelings. He's mellowed some over time and is finally ready to confront his true feelings toward Hester.Another great book in this series.

[macthekat82 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love how Anne Perry delves into the hypocrisy of the Victorian area. The way women was treated as possessions and as if they were minors - their total disempowerment. How she pushes us into the dark underbelly of London. But also how she shows us the beauty of the art, architecture and fashion. And of course she keep me up past midnight again and again with her stories and mystery. The sneaky lady had me thinking I knew what the plot was and when let that part unfold 70 % into the book and takes us on another mystery for the last 30 % of the book. Sneaky and very effective. I am very tired today because I stayed up way past my bedtime to read the end of this book.

[moontyger_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Most of the plot twists in this mystery were pretty obvious, but I enjoyed it anyway. I don't always mind knowing the solution in advance; it is interesting to see how the author gets us there. (And I think, after a certain number of mysteries read, it gets harder and harder for an author to truly surprise the reader.)My one criticism is that, somehow, all 3 main characters in this novel have quite modern sensibilities when it comes to gender and homosexuality. Yes, it makes them easier to like, but I can't quite escape the feeling that it's not particularly realistic. I know; I know - I'm not usually much on reading books with protagonists I don't like either. It's always an issue with period books. I'm not complaining, exactly, but I really couldn't escape the feeling that it was awfully unlikely.I also felt that the ending was curiously incomplete; it felt as though there were more story to tell, but the book just stops and I'm not sure why. All right, you've found the evidence, but now what? I guess we're just supposed to assume, but in the case given in the book, I found that inadequate. I'd like to know what happened.

[mckait · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I did not expect to like this book as well as I did. I chose it for a bit offast read fun. It has also been a while since I took on anything Victorian. The books begins with a young man who was a gifted archetect, Killian Melville, seeks out Barrister Sir Oliver Rathbone, to defend him in court against the charge of Breach of Promise. The defense is that Killian has never actually asked for the hand of Zillah, a beautiful young lady, in marriage. That he knew that marriage plans were being made but thathe never thought it was his own wedding being discussed. Rathbone was at first disinclined to take the case. He simply thought Melville was a fool and a cad!Something though, convinced him. Something about the honesty of the way Melville presented himselfconvinced the Barrister to defend him. Thinking that the odds of winning this case were slim to none, Rathbone asks his long time friend and investigator William Monk to aide in the endeavor. But this is not the only story. Gabriel Lambert was wounded badly and in fact disfigured in the war in India. Hester Latterly, a friend of both the Barrister and the Investigator is a woman who served valiantly in the Crimea nWar, has been asked to be a live in nurse and caregiver for Lambert. His young wife Perdita is distraught and frightened and has no skill in caring for someone with injuries, and needs such as her husband has brought home with him. This is a ripping good story, a mystery whose solution will have you leaping out of your comfy chairand shouting you cannot mean it! And the back story is of how women were thought to be nothing more than ornamental, and unable to learn or accomplish anything more than keeping a home and their men happy. I really liked this one. I will certainly read more in this series.

[catien_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good historical mystery-William Monk series

[corglacier7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The 9th entry in the William Monk series, this one definitely picked up the pace from the last few entries. The case had a few melodramatic aspects, but Monk's exploration of the stark reality of a woman's place in mid-Victorian England, and the price paid for defying that convention, dovetails very neatly with significant steps in his romance with independent-minded ex-nurse Hester Latterly, and new awareness of the man he's become in the last few years. One of the best character books in this series.

[krisiti · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A brilliant woman architect, disguised as a man, finds herself engaged to another woman... I think that any other author would have made that plot a comedy, but I didn't even think of laughing until I read that summary.The subplot with the deformed children was also nicely handled, and dovetailed well with the main one - perhaps a bit too coincidental, but mysteries often are.How did Dolly lean so much about poisons?

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Victorian Mystery that is so compelling that it was impossible to put down. I read it in one afternoon. Some non Victorian attitudes about women and leaps of faith in some of the subplots, but it worked.

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a quite interesting story based on beauty and appearance. There are several stories within this book: the disfigurement and loss of an arm of an English soldier during the uprisings in India, two deaf and facially disfigured orphaned sisters, and the superb beauty of a young lady. The breach of promise begins a trial that has Sir Oliver Rathbone at a loss as to how to defend his client. The story takes many twists and turns that would ruin the fun for the next reader. The story points to the problems of women during this time in England's history. Hester Latterly defies tradition and shines as a woman dependant on no man. But this defiance carries a dear price. I am anxious to read the next novel of this series. Usually an author seems to become mundane as a series progresses, but Perry seems to improve with each story.