Book Review: Unnatural Causes

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Unnatural Causes     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Janet Bettle
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Legal Setting   Thriller   Woman Main Character
Dunne, Jun 2000, $23.95, 320 pp.
ISBN: 0312262442

Though he was fifty-four years old, Dr. Thomas Pascoe was in perfect health. His grieving widow Joanna rejects the idea that he just 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

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner