Suspicion of Madness

by Barbara Parker

Overview

“Suspense builds” as a tropical storm and a crazed killer bear down on Connor and Quintana in the Florida Keys, in the New York Times–bestselling series (Library Journal).
 
Despite storm warnings, lawyers and lovers Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana travel to a resort on a secluded island in the Florida Keys when a wealthy former client asks for their help with his troubled stepson, Billy, who has confessed to murder.
 
Billy had a history with the victim—a resort employee with a promiscuous reputation and a penchant for causing trouble. But it soon becomes apparent that plenty of people may have wanted Sandra McCoy silenced for good . . . along with anyone who gets in the way.
 
An Edgar Award finalist for the first book in the bestselling series, Suspicion of Innocence, as well as a former prosecutor herself, Barbara Parker once again gives readers a “lively legal romp” (Booklist).

Suspicion of Madness is the 7th book in the Suspicion series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781497639188
Publisher:	Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Publication date:	07/22/2014
Series:	The Suspicion Series , #7
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	303
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Barbara Parker was trained as a lawyer and worked as a prosecutor with the state attorney’s office in Dade County, Florida, before moving into a private practice that specialized in real estate and family law. She earned a master’s degree in creative writing in 1993, and her first legal thriller was Suspicion of Innocence (1994), which was followed by another seven titles featuring her two lawyer protagonists, the sometime-lovers Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana. While writing the Suspicion series, she also produced Criminal Justice, Blood Relations, The Perfect Fake, and The Dark of Day. Suspicion of Innocence was a finalist for the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, and two of her titles, Suspicion of Deceit and Suspicion of Betrayal, were New York Times bestsellers. Parker died in March 2009, at age sixty-two.

Editorial Reviews

Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana's getaway to an isolated villa in the Florida Keys sounds romantic, but their perfect vacation fizzles the moment that attorney Anthony encounters a menacing former client. Suddenly, their secluded island becomes their vulnerable fortress. A fast-paced thriller with a nearly dizzying array of quick plot turns.

bn.com

Suspicion of Madness is riveting, which makes trying to put the pieces together all the more fun. Top-notch suspense!

Romantic Times

Miami lawyers Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana head to Key West for a combined romantic vacation and murder investigation in the seventh of Parker's Suspicion series (Suspicion of Vengeance, etc.). As in previous installments, the pressures of the chase test the relationship of the high-powered couple, and Florida's lush landscape adds color to a mystery that makes up in intensity what it lacks in depth. It all begins when wealthy client Martin Greenwald invites Quintana to his resort in the Florida Keys to help his troubled stepson, Billy, who is under suspicion for murder. Certain Billy is innocent, Quintana convinces Connor to join him to share the delights of the island. But they find little time for amusement because as soon as they arrive, they learn Billy has attempted suicide. In quick order, lies and bodies are uncovered, and Connor and Quintana find themselves investigating an aging B-movie starlet, a pair of conniving local lawyers, the client's overextended family and a stuttering handyman who does odd jobs, showing up in the oddest places at the oddest times. The intertwining lives of the characters reflect the Florida culture around them-rich in dreaming, scheming and explosive undercurrents. The surprise ending is no surprise for Hitchcock fans, but former state prosecutor and practicing attorney Parker paces her story well and neatly ties up loose ends. She also heats up the legal intrigue with the fiery romance between Latin lover Quintana and single mom Connor, ensuring that fans-even those who have seen the same movies Parker has-will stay tuned for the next escapade of Miami's tempestuous legal sweethearts. (Feb. 24) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Billy McFadden's murder defense brings legal duo Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana to Key West, FL, in Parker's seventh "Suspicion of" legal thriller. Billy's alibi that he spent the evening watching old movies with Joan Sinclair, the has-been star of Bride of Nesferatu, is shaky. Gail and Anthony are guests of Billy's stepfather, Walter Greenwald, at his Buttonwood Resort, operated by Walter's sister Lois. The cast of suspects grows and the pressure increases with a tropical storm as Gail escapes from gory escapades. William Dufris and Christine Marshall provide multiple, characteristic voices, improving on programs delivered by lone readers. Highly recommended for all general collections. Sandy Glover, Camas P.L., WA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In this latest in the Suspicion of . . . series, Parker (Suspicion of Madness, 2003, etc.) sends her protagonists to Cuba on a case that never quite kicks into gear. Headed to his native Havana for a reunion with his sister, Miami lawyer Anthony Quintana gets an unwelcome sendoff. Guillermo Navarro, a champion of Miami's Cuban exiles, wants Quintana to persuade Quintana's brother-in-law, Ramiro Vega, to defect to the US. Navarro claims Cuban Major Omar Cespedes, on the staff of Cuban General Abdel Garcia, indicated to the Ministry of Basic Industries in Brazil that Vega wants to defect. Quintana, convinced of Vega's loyalty to Castro, remains skeptical as he and lawyer wife Gail Connor and their children arrive in Cuba. Their illegal passage becomes Navarro's leverage: if Connor and Quintana fail to bring back Vega, they may be arrested and prosecuted for breaking the US embargo against travel to Cuba. Further standoffs and tensions ensue, but there's little momentum as everyone circles everyone else. General Garcia warns Quintana that unless the lawyer tells him what information Cespedes passed to the Ministry in Brazil, Quintana, his wife, and his family will never leave Cuba. Anti-Castro revolutionary Mario Cabrera realizes Quintana's daughter, whom he finds attractive, can get him to Vega, whom he wants to assassinate. Gail, meanwhile, who spends about half of the time just fretting, finally moves into action in a soap-operatic moment when she learns that 21-year-old Mario is the passion child of a long-ago affair Anthony had with a woman still living in Cuba. Can Gail forgive Anthony? The predictable kidnapping of Gail's daughter Karen, the rubout of Major Cespedes, and a finalshootout at Vega's place, give her time to decide-though the marriage and the next case never seem threatened. For all the characters, details, and theatrics, a rather inert installment. Agent: Richard Curtis/Richard Curtis Associates

Kirkus Reviews