An enjoyable fast paced thriller featuring a new feisty heroine: Julia Gooden is a reporter on a Detroit newspaper and she is covering the trial of Nick Rossi, a local gangster. Howver there is a slight problem as her estranged husband David is the prosecutor which leads to some conflict of interest as Julia tries to get inside information.
Julia has two young children and is helped at home by Helen her Polish housekeeper. David is trying to encourage her to have him back but Julia is still unsure after he walked out on her.
She is friends with two cops, Navarro and Russell who are investigating Rossi and give Julia insights into the case. It transpires that Navarro and Julia have had a relationship in the past and there is still a lot of romantic tension between them as the story moves along.
This is a fast moving plot with lots of action. Things get even more tense when David is injured in a courthouse bomb and Julia is desparate to investigate. However nobody in the book is as they seem- duplicity is the word and the title resonates as the novel progresses.
The characters are well drawn and likeable. Julia is a great heroine and not a shrinking violet. She likes to be where the action is!
I am a big fan of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone series and Julia Gooden reminded me of her a lot.
The book was compelling with a lot happening so I read it vey quickly over the course of a couple of days. In fact I realised after a few chapters it was the second book in a series and I am now keen to read the first novel so I can fill in the blanks on Julia's background.
It seems she suffered a tragic childhood with an alcoholic mother and an older brother who went missing when he was only nine years old This has had a major effect on her life and she is constantly on edge in case something happens to her own children. I loved the way she switched from action woman to soft and maternal!
A great five star read. Perfect for fans of Laura Lippman, Sue Grafton and Sarah Paretsky!

This is a thriller that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat with your heart pounding all the way through. Julia Gooden is a newspaper reporter in Detroit, covering a trial of an organized crime figure in which her husband is the prosecuting attorney when tragedy strikes the courtroom, killing a key witness and injuring her husband David making Julia more determined than ever to get the whole story. I learned a lot about the life of a newspaper reporter and how important it is not to be "scooped " and to have the right contacts and informants. The plot is riveting, the characters believable and what is most interesting to me about this book is that the City of Detroit is a key character, with all its flaws. This was an amazing book and I highly recommend it.

This appeared on my shelf but I did not request it and in fact was not impressed by the first book in this series.

This book is so bad I couldn't get beyond the first page, which was filled with sophomoric stereotypes. It starts with "a group of aged fifty-something women".. What? Is the author older than 15? Then the depiction of these women can only be stated as something entirely in the puerile imagination of a child, depicting these AGED women as likely recent divorces, hooting and whistling at some man. The next paragraph is so awful I cannot even begin to cite what was said, as it depicted these AGED women making gross sexual signals and then 2 paragraphs later they stop their sexual badgering as they "wordlessly concede that they've been bested by a thoroughbred".

Who in the hell would want to read any further?

I would give it no stars if I could.

Another entertaining mystery featuring the likable characters of Julia Goodwin and her trusty police friends Navarro and Russell. Duplicity sums it up as just about everyone in the story is leading double lives.

I read the first book in the Julia Gooden mystery series, and I am so glad I had the chance to also read the second book in this series. Crime Reporter Julia Gooden keeps you hooked right from the beginning of the story. There is never a dull moment. There is a lot of twists and turns as Julia and Detective Raymond Navarro solve the case of a crime boss and how her lawyer husband is involved with him and his crimes. Highly recommend for all mystery lovers! Can't wait for the next installment in this series!

Julia Goodwin is a woman trying to do it all. She’s a mother, a wife, and a reporter. Her marriage to ADA David Tanner is faltering , and she’s doing her best to try to get things back on track, but David is consumed by his current case. He’s working on bringing Nick Rossi to trial for drug trafficking and a host of other nasty things when a bomb goes off in the courthouse killing several people. David is critically injured and Julia, who believes Rossi is to blame works with Detroit detective Raymond Navarro to bring him down. Gritty and intense, Julia is a compelling protagonist