About the Book:

How does an intelligent woman find herself mired in a web of deception, abuse, and danger? In Depth of Deceit, author Betty Briggs pulls her readers into the life of Stephanie Saunders, a lovely young attorney with a big heart, keen mind, and a trust in others that nearly proves disastrous. Her handsome and wealthy boyfriend strikes her as perfect, but is he too good to be true? Her boss hovers around her like a protector and friend, but is he? Stephanie’s work focuses on defending the indigent, and one client earns her trust and friendship, but why is he showing up at the oddest places? It seems that she can trust only the horses she trains and loves, magnificent beasts who remind her of life’s purposes and meaning. In a dramatic turn of events, Stephanie must make a decision that will affect her life forever. While fans of the author’s earlier novels will be thrilled to discover a familiar character, this novel stands alone in plot and dramatic impact.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book, and an author that I first encountered through an offer to receive her book — and I must admit that in the beginning I was skeptical.  Yes, I love legal thrillers, and I don’t mind romance — as long as they are not sappy or filled with gratuitous sex scenes.  And yes, I even know about horses — after all I grew up in Utah.  But I just was having a hard time seeing all of these vastly diverse motifs rolled into one workable story.  So, from the moment I started reading, I have to say that I was surprised.  Ms. Briggs is a very talented author, with the ability to create complex characters, and even more unique plots for her story than I usually expect to find in legal thrillers.  She has capitalized on her understanding of the legal profession, from the time she worked in a law office, and turned it into a thoroughly readable story!

If there was one thing that I got frustrated about with the book, it would have been the protagonist’s overwhelming inclination to unreal amounts of naivete!  Either that, or this woman was the worlds best bum magnet in the universe.  At least that is what I kept thinking.  She just really had a thing for getting involved with all the wrong kinds of men, and you just wanted to reach out and slap her and say “wake up!”  But this wasn’t so all consuming a draw back that it disrupted the story line — and it didn’t detract from the book at all.  It was just one of those subtle, underlying things that some readers will notice, and some readers won’t.  And since this minor draw back was far out weighed by the good points of this book, I found I really didn’t mind.

What I really liked about this one was the presentation of a plot that is unique in the legal/mystery thriller genre.  And I don’t intend to give anything away, because much of the allure of this book is discovering what is going on in the mystery.  But I will say that it is a much more unusual premise than most of the motives behind the stories of mystery novels.  Combine with that the fact that Ms. Briggs manages to keep her readers in the dark of just how many people are involved in the mystery to literally the last hundred pages of the book, and this all combines for a very successful mystery novel from a talented mystery writer.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book is its ability to remain “clean” in the face of so many other books in the genre that are demanding overwhelming amounts of language, smut, and violence.  And yes, there is a mystery, and a couple of murders involved in the plot.  But Ms. Briggs has managed to stay on target with little if any profanity, and no sex scenes.  There are some allusions to those things having happened at some point before the story begins — but nothing crude.  And even though it might feel odd for some readers, the book doesn’t come across as preachy, or over moralistic in its presentation either.  Ms. Briggs has found a nice mix for a great legal thriller mystery.

Tags: Clean Reads, Horses, Legal, Legal Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Young Adult

Category: Clean Fiction, Mystery, Promo Book Reviews, Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult Fiction