Nina Reilly takes on the most dangerous and difficult case of her
career in New York Times bestselling author Perri
O'Shaughnessy's latest thriller. An ingenious blend of forensic
science, history, and gripping suspense, UNLUCKY IN LAW pits
the tough but compassionate attorney against the most unbeatable
adversary of all: the law.

Nina has just received a last-minute call from her old boss and
mentor in Monterey County, California, where she is enjoying the
breathtaking scenery and spending time with her boyfriend, P.I.
Paul van Wagoner. Klaus Pohlmann is in desperate straits and begs
Nina to take over a seemingly unwinnable case: A luckless two-time
felon named Stefan Wyatt has robbed a grave and made off with the
long-buried bones of a Russian émigré. When he is caught
and arrested, further devastating evidence found in the grave
suggests that Stefan is guilty of a far more deadly crime.

A young woman, a classmate of Stefan's, has been killed, and he is
accused of her murder. Now, as a result of California's Third
Strike law, Wyatt is looking at twenty-five years to life whether
he's convicted of grand theft or murder. Either way, he's in big
trouble.

With her client's blood DNA found in the dead woman's apartment,
Nina faces an uphill battle. Suspecting that her hapless client has
been set up, Nina brings in a brilliant forensic pathologist who
comes up with a startling theory about the case that could rewrite
a crucial page of European history. As the evidence mounts against
Nina's client, Paul launches his own investigation into the shadowy
past of the two-decades-old skeleton. But long-held secrets nearly
get him killed and reveal a more insidious evil at work --- and an
extraordinary story dating back to tsarist Russia and the Romanov
court. As Wyatt edges closer to the unluckiest verdict of his young
life, Nina makes an astounding discovery that just might save her
client --- or expose a killer who could bury them all.

Brilliantly imagined and compulsively readable, UNLUCKY IN
LAW is a beguiling mix of wrenching drama and gripping action.
And it is Perri O'Shaughnessy's most accomplished novel to
date.

© Copyright 2004 by Dell, a division of Random House,
Inc.