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Book Review By Julie Gilbert
Angel of Mercy by Tracie Peterson and James Scott Bell

Kathleen Shannon, better known as Kit, reluctantly agrees to represent police officer Edward Hanratty who is being charged with murder. She's a lawyer in a day and age when not many women were lawyers and she's a criminal lawyer to boot.
Kit and her faithful friend, Corazon, investigate the murder of Jay Chausser. The most frustrating part is that the DA or someone had purposefully warned all the witnesses or potential witnesses away. No one will talk to them. Eventually, Corazon manages to track down one maid that will help her. Still, things don't look good for Kit's client.
Meanwhile, Kit's own life has turmoil. Elinor Wynn is suing her for the loss of Theodore Fox's affections, as they were engaged to be married before Kit showed up. Kit tries to show the court that there's no way this ridiculous case can stand but she's only saved by the appearance of Ted Fox himself. With Ted back in her life, Kit's having a hard time concentrating on her case. While the evidence seems to say her client's guilty dead-to-rights, her heart and gut tell her he's being set up.
To make matters more stressful, Kit's dear Aunt Freddy is sick and dying and being manipulated maliciously by Professor Stillwater, a charlatan who's gained the elderly woman's trust. After an inner struggle, Ted comes to his senses and helps Kit out immensely. With the help of his friend, Gus, Ted gets Stillwater away from Aunt Freddy so Kit can have a few moment's of peaceful visitation with Aunt Freddy in the hospital.
In the end, Kit frees her client and pieces together the murder of Jay Chausser through a series of carefully researched and carefully timed witnesses of her own. These include the maid Corazon dug up and a painter who did recent work at the hotel and even a few of the prosecution's star witnesses, including Mrs. Edna Chausser herself.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging
Time/era of story:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 40%
Murder of certain profession?
Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
descript. of violence and chases - 30 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race
Unusual characteristics:

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - lawyer creatures
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - California
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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