Review: A Legal Thriller with a Buddhist Flavour
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 5, 2013
Improper Influence, the fifth instalment in the Sasha McCandless Series, opens with one of my favourite quotes of all time:"Three things shine before the world and cannot be hidden/They are the moon, the sun, and the truth". It's a Buddhist quote, and one that sets the tone for the story that follows: the search for the truth.There is a certain Buddhist flavour to this book, added by a new, intriguing character - the forensic pathologist Bodhi King, a practising Buddhist who stumbles across a cluster of sudden unexplained deaths in his job at the corner's office. When Bodhi's laptop and personal notebooks disappear from his office, his suspicions are confirmed: someone is trying to stop him from discovering  the truth. Whoever is scheming in the shadows, however, didn't take into account the fact that the quiet, contemplative pathologist happens to play volleyball with Leo Connelly - Sasha McCandless' fiancee. That can only mean one thing: Sasha's got herself a new case, and with a new case, of course, comes trouble. What this means for us is that we have another page-turner from the queen of the indie legal thriller, Melissa F. Miller.Just like its four predecessors, Improper Influence features all the ingredients that Miller's loyal readers have grown to love: coffee, Krav Maga, meddling politicians and danger lurking at every corner. Scattered here and there throughout the novel are snippets of legal exposition, always presented in a clear, interesting way which never reads like like a Law for Dummies manual but which still makes you feel that you know the workings of the law well enough to represent yourself in a courtroom. And of course, again like the previous four, the case around which Improper Influence is centred feels as if it has been lifted from headline news: this time Sasha is dealing with the potential lethal effect of an energy drink. I don't know how the author manages to find such a brilliant, current-sounding `hook' for every novel, but the result is yet another compelling read, thanks to a storyline that walks the tightrope connecting the plausible and the downright outlandish, without ever losing its balance.If you are already a fan of the series, this fifth instalment will not disappoint, and by the time you have reached the end you will be wanting to know when novel no. 6 is out. Fortunately for all of us, Melissa F. Miller is a prolific writer and I am sure that she will not have us wait too long until we are once again immersed in the trials and tribulations of our favourite fictional attorney.