Review: Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Keera Duggan, #2) by Robert Dugoni

                                                            

Print Length: 365 pages

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (October 22, 2024)

From Goodreads.com: When Jenna Bernstein, disgraced wunderkind CEO of a controversial biotech company, is accused of murdering her former partner and lover, she turns to Seattle attorney Keera Duggan to defend her. Keera is more than a master chess player who brings her intuitive moves into court—she’s Jenna’s childhood friend. But considering their history, Keera knows that where Jenna goes, trouble follows.

Three years earlier, Keera’s father successfully defended Jenna when she was tried for the killing of her company’s chief medical scientist who threatened to go public with allegations of corporate fraud. Keera knows Jenna too well. When she was a kid, Keera saw Jenna for what she a manipulative and frighteningly controlling sociopath. Now, with only circumstantial evidence against Jenna, Keera is willing to bury any trepidation she might have to defend a woman she believes, this time, to be innocent.

As the investigation gets underway and disturbing questions arise, Keera puts her trust in a client who swears nothing but the truth. If this is all just another devious game, Keera might be working to set a murderer free.

  

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Right off the bat let me say that I really felt like the author listened to the constructive criticism that I provided about the first novel (about the chess jargon being too much for a non chess player to understand much less appreciate) as there were far less in-depth mentions of it in this story which I appreciated. 

I also enjoyed watching Keera try a case of the magnitude that she did without (as she put it) "Patsy acting as a safety net". It was interesting for me watching all of the ways she used what she had learned from her father, but adapting it to her own style of trying a case.  I feel like we got to see her character evolve in that she was making her own choices, and doing what she felt was the best course of action knowing it would anger her client. Her understanding of who and what Jenna really was worked will for this story-line as Keera made sure that Jenna did not go unpunished for the crimes that she did commit which I liked. She could have just as easily gone along with what Jenna wanted, hoping for the best and relying on the jury, but I'm glad that she didn't and that she pushed for the truth (all of it) to come out. 

There were a couple of twists that happened along the way that I also enjoyed (and one that I was definitely surprised by), and although I feel like at least one of them was pretty obvious from the start, I still wasn't sure how (or if) Keera would be able to prove it. So once the narrative turned the focus on that particular thread, I couldn't have put the book down even if I had wanted to. 

According to Amazon, there is one more novel in this series (although I am sincerely hoping it will end up being more), and I can't wait to read it to see what comes next for Keera. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.