Bitter Business - Hardcover

Hartzmark, Gini

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0449909891 ISBN 13: 9780449909898

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1995

Synopsis

Gini Hartzmark has become a master of legal suspense. The San Francisco Chronicle praised her last book, Final Option, as "explosive...a cleverly plotted and convincing look at freewheeling crooks and wizards." Now Hartzmark returns with another high-stakes novel that could have been torn from the headlines, a tale of the worst kind of greed in the best of families.
It's no secret that Chicago corporate attorney Kate Millholland went to law school to avoid the gauntlet of parties and shopping that in her parents' wealthy world fills the gap between debutante and bride. But once Kate began her studies, she found herself falling in love with the law--and forever fighting the cozy, privileged image cast by the shadow of her family tree.
Now, at the request of a dying colleague, Kate Millholland agrees to represent the Cavanaugh family business and finds a nest of vipers. Patriarch and CEO Jack Cavanaugh, who built Superior Plating & Specialty Chemicals into a stunning success, runs a tight ship and sails it intrusively into the lives of his four children, all of whom have problems of their own. The oldest son, Philip, the heir-not-so-apparent of the company, wrestles with agonizing guilt and a shameful secret; his sister, Dagny--a polished, educated, charismatic executive--is not as loyal as her father thinks when it comes to taking over the helm; Eugene, a tough-talking ex-marine, may never outgrow a tragedy from his past; and Lydia, the baby of the family with the loudest scream, loves trouble. As Kate enters the picture, Lydia is threatening to sell her shares of stock and the family be damned.
Kate finds her hands full with this fierce clan. But when murder strikes, she must delve into a dark and twisted family history--where she uncovers oily opportunists, emotional scars, and fatal passions on a collision course with disaster and unexplained death.
Brilliantly plotted with unforgettable characters and shocking suspense, A Bitter Business hails the hardcover debut of a major new work of fiction by an author who gets better with every book she writes.

About this title

About the Author

Gini Hartzmark attended the law and business schools of the University of Chicago and was a business and economics writer. She has written articles on a variety of topics for the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and a number of national magazines. She is the author of Principal Defense and Final Option, both novels featuring Kate Millholland.

Ms. Hartzmark and her husband live in Arizona with their three children.


From the Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

rk has become a master of legal suspense. The San Francisco Chronicle praised her last book, Final Option, as "explosive...a cleverly plotted and convincing look at freewheeling crooks and wizards." Now Hartzmark returns with another high-stakes novel that could have been torn from the headlines, a tale of the worst kind of greed in the best of families.<br>It's no secret that Chicago corporate attorney Kate Millholland went to law school to avoid the gauntlet of parties and shopping that in her parents' wealthy world fills the gap between debutante and bride. But once Kate began her studies, she found herself falling in love with the law--and forever fighting the cozy, privileged image cast by the shadow of her family tree.<br>Now, at the request of a dying colleague, Kate Millholland agrees to represent the Cavanaugh family business and finds a nest of vipers. Patriarch and CEO Jack Cavanaugh, who built Superior Plating & Specialty Chemicals into a stunning success, runs a tight

Reviews

Kate Millholland, heroine of two paperback legal thrillers from Hartzmark (Principal Defense; Final Option), makes her hardcover debut in a fast-paced tale that finds the overworked Chicago attorney entrusted with the legal affairs of the wealthy but desperately dysfunctional Cavanaugh family. Bull-headed Jack Cavanaugh, the founder and principal owner of Superior Plating and Specialty Chemicals, runs the lives of his four children with the same obsessive attention he gives his company. He's grooming son Philip to take over the concern, but it's hard-nosed daughter Dagny who has the real head for business and troublesome son Eugene who gets along best with the workers. Then there's daughter Lydia, a spoiled brat who can't stand her father's new wife and who, together with her new husband, is threatening to tear the family and its business apart by selling her shares in the company. Though Dagny's secretary dies of mysterious causes (suicide? murder? an industrial safety violation?), it takes a second death to send narrator Kate searching for a family secret that goes back to the demise of Jimmy Cavanaugh, the golden son who drowned at age 17. Crisp prose, sharply drawn characters and a nicely subordinated subplot?in which Kate is torn between her lover and a private detective?all help keep the reader involved until the climax. The ending disappoints, however, by neither topping nor equaling the sustained and compelling frenzy of Kate's juggling her job, her personal life and a mystery that only she has the desire to solve.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As a favor to a dying colleague, Kate Millholland agrees to become corporate attorney for a family-owned business in Chicago. The willful owner and CEO, Jack Cavanaugh, and his four children operate the firm. Kate is totally unprepared for the family squabbling as she struggles to balance the conflicting agendas and personalities of the Cavanaugh clan. When the youngest daughter plans to sell her company shares to an outsider, the delicate situation worsens as several murders take place on the company's premises. Drawn into the vortex of this complex family, Kate races to discover who the murderer is and how present circumstances relate to another family tragedy 30 years earlier. The characters are believable, the action is well paced, and readers will be intrigued with this glimpse into the sometimes unpredictable world of corporate law from the author of Principal Defense (Ivy Bks., 1992). For public libraries.?Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

At the request of her dying mentor, corporate lawyer Kate Millholland agrees to counsel Superior Plating and Specialty Chemicals, owned by the battling Cavanaugh family. Jack Cavanaugh, the patriarch, wants to see his company and family stay together, but his four children seem to be doing their best to thwart this dream. First, Lydia, the spoiled and emotionally disturbed younger daughter, threatens to sell her shares if she isn't bought out by the rest of the family immediately. The two sons are each dysfunctional in their own special ways, and they refuse to work with one another. Then the older daughter, Danny, the best businessperson in the family, dies mysteriously. In trying to straighten out the business tangle, Kate discovers a nest of old family secrets and realizes that someone is willing to kill to protect them. Hartzmark has created a tidy mystery, featuring an interesting protagonist and a solid supporting cast. The resolution of the story seems pat, but good writing maintains the reader's interest throughout. George Needham

Edition details

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0449909891
• ISBN 13: 9780449909898
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 307