Privilege
Claire Matturro, Moonshine Cove Publishing, 2019.
In the prologue of this fast-paced and beautifully written mystery novel, country girl Ruby Randolph–whose boyfriend Billy has been arrested and whose trailer has been burned down–shows up homeless, barefoot and braless at criminal defense attorney Gardner Randolph’s office.
Gardner allows her to stay with him, he defends her in court, and they eventually have sex. They marry and she gets a law degree.
But by chapter one, fifteen years later, we realize she’s working with her bully, abuser and cheater of a husband, Gardner, in a Southwest Florida law firm.
One late afternoon, Ruby takes a trail to the Myakka River and meets a cop named Hank who is tender and kind. Meanwhile, Gardner is picking up a younger woman that same night.
Billy is still in jail, and he’s pissed off that Ruby got away while he is stuck in prison. She promises to get him out, and soon.
Meanwhile, the law firm seems to be in trouble. One partner has stolen a little over $200 from the petty cash drawer. Gardner tells Ruby he’s going to take over the law firm. Unbeknownst to Gardner, the several partners want to oust Gardner from the firm.
Soon after, Gardner is discovered dead in the married couple’s bedroom. Then, the cop covering the case shows up at the door–it’s Hank.
Hank is about the most honorable guy around, yet even as they return to their affair, he wonders if she’s the killer. Ruby wonders if she can trust Hank.
Hank finds no signs of a break in. He’s not sure about Ruby, who he truly loves. He’s concerned about her bankrupted law firm, Billy, Gardner’s lover from the law firm, Tally, and the whole sketchiness of Ruby’s past.
Soon, it looks like Ruby will be going to prison–if she doesn’t get killed first.
And then the novel’s ending hits, which slaps you in the face, yet you wonder how you’ didn’t understand it from hints in the middle of the book.
This story juggles so many possibilities that you cannot stop turning pages.
Claire Matturo has written seven novels, and this one is the one I like the most. It’s complex and scary and some of the characters’ actions definitely shock and surprise. All scenes in the book could truly happen in this day and age.
Nothing like a hot, sticky, sex-filled smart and gritty novel to get you through the night.
–Mary Jane Ryals