Unnatural Causes

By Janet Bettle

Book Overview

Geri Lander is a successful lawyer always ready to passionately defend the underdog. But when Joanna Pascoe comes to her for help in uncovering the truth behind her husband's mysterious death, even Geri believes she does not have much of a case. What has happened to Joanna's husband seems like a tragedy-a senseless, heart-wrenching tragedy. But, as Geri digs a little deeper, she comes up with frightening questions, and no answers: Why should a perfectly healthy man like Dr. Pascoe die after a simple case of food poisoning, and why such a gruesome death? The further Geri delves, the more suspicious the circumstances become, and before long she discovers that Thomas Pascoe has died from something far worse than food poisoning. Dr. Pascoe is the victim of a deadly super-bug-a bacterium resulting from over-use of antibiotics in farm animals. Geri begins to investigate, only to be thwarted at every attempt to discover the truth. The authorities are curiously unwilling to help, more people are dying, and suddenly Geri finds herself in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy. In this terrific first novel, Janet Bettle introduces a feisty heroine and brings a fresh and contemporary voice to the world of legal thrillers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312262442
• ISBN13: 9780312262440
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.1" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Courtroom drama explores poultry industry

Janet Bettle's first novel, "Unnatural Causes" touches a raw nerve of justifiable paranoia. Approached by the gentle, dignified widow of a man who died painfully and inexplicably after a meal of chicken, crusading London solicitor Geri Lander accepts the food-poisoning case and finds herself pursuing a "super bug" which could bring down the British poultry industry, to say nothing of decimating the population. Caused by the overuse of illegal antibiotics in chickens, the super bug has proved resistant to medical treatment and, unknown to Geri, cases are proliferating.Point of view shifts between Geri, the government functionary who has just completed a report a report on the hazards of antibiotic use in poultry and the agriculture minister who manipulates him to suppress the report. While I can think of a few things Geri should have done (like check hospitals for similar cases) the woman has a frantic life - she's a widowed mother at the helm of a struggling firm, with financial ruin lurking. There's also a bit of romance and a nice mother/son relationship in addition to the carefully plotted, wholly engaging, David-against-Goliath courtroom story.

good British legal thriller

Though he was fifty-four years old, Dr. Thomas Pascoe was inperfect health. His grieving widow Joanna rejects the idea that hejust died from tainted chicken. Unable to obtain satisfactory answers from the medical community or the government, Joanna turns to attorney Geri Lander, whose firm has earned the reputation for its in depth handling of personal injury cases.Though her company faces an immediate money problem. Geri accepts the Pascoe case on a contingent fee basis. This angers her partners, who want to accept cash only clients regardless of legal need, but she sticks to her beliefs that the firm adhere to its expertise. As she struggles with her own peers, Geri learns that Thomas did not die from simple food poisoning. His death was caused by a super-bug bacterium passed from chickens to humans. However, the various bureaucracies come together in an attempt to thwart Geri's efforts to attain the full truth into the use of antibiotic feeding of chickens.UNNATURAL CAUSES is a great legal thriller that hits hard on two fronts. The exciting tale centers on the impact of what is happening to our food supply in the name of profits. The way the various organizations bind together will remind the audience of President Eisenhower's warnings to beware of the military-industrial consortium. The subplot involving Geri's struggles as a single mother and professional makes her seem human with frailties even as she goes to battle the seemingly invincible enemies. Janet Bettle provides a fabulous legal thriller that holds its own with the best of the best.Harriet Klausner