Case of lies / Perri O'Shaughnessy

Map on lining papers

A math genius, a tough courtroom adversary and an even tougher judge make the 11th legal thriller in the Nina Reilly series the most intriguing yet. Back in Lake Tahoe, Nina gets her next case from a masseuse whose aunt was killed during a motel robbery. Unless Nina acts, the lawsuit filed against the Ace High Lodge will be dismissed, as no one has been able to locate the witnesses. Reluctant to call on ex-lover PI Paul van Wagoner for help, Nina hires her assistant's PI son, Wish, who discovers that the witnesses are MIT students with a sideline counting cards. While the old case takes on new life, people connected to it are threatened and worse. O'Shaughnessy (lawyer Pamela and editor Mary O'Shaughnessy) takes the reader inside the beautiful mind of emotionally immature, occasionally delusional, quantitatively inspired Elliott Wakefield as he solves equations, cares for his father and plays blackjack. In thrillers as in math proofs, neatness counts. Here, the Internet and national security bring Elliott's story to an almost too-neat conclusion, while Nina ingeniously solves the problem of replacing Paul in her personal life. As always, O'Shaughnessy keeps legal procedure straight, language crisp and plot consistently absorbing.