A Poisoned Mind — Natasha Cooper

"I don't know how you've survived at the Bar this long," Anthony said to Trish. "Caring for your clients to the point of derangement is bad enough; but to start fretting over the opposition. . . . "

In spite of the barristers' rule that any suitably quali?ed member of the Bar who is free to take an offered case must do so, QC Trish Maguire can't quite understand how her head of chambers, Anthony Shelley, can accept a case defending the corrupt Clean World Waste Management company. So when the brilliant and cynical Anthony is nearly killed in an accident, Trish is faced with a painful dilemma: Does she take over the company's defense, or threaten her hard-won career by refusing to appear in court against Angie Fortwell, the impoverished widow of a hard-working farmer? As Trish delves deeper into the case, she grows more and more troubled by a nagging thought: Was the explosion that killed Angie's husband really an accident, or the result of sabotage?

With all this going on at work, the last thing Trish needs is the possibility of explosions at home. Yet she can't simply walk away from Jay, the clever but damaged fourteen-year-old boy who has attached himself to her family---especially when his mother is found beaten and close to death.