Breach of Trust by Bonnie MacDougal (1996, Hardcover)

Overall, I'd say this book was a good read. At times, I got a little confused with the plot twists, and keeping the various side characters straight. (I expect that would clear up a whole bunch with a second reading, which I plan on doing.)

The characters are mostly believable, and they experience things that I think would be very easily to relate to: troublesome family members, new love, troubles at work, etc. That always makes it a little easier for me to follow a book, as opposed to those who suddenly have the ability to scale a mountain, parachute off of it when it's discovered that the bad guy got there first, land in the ocean, then miraculously pull out scuba equipment and make it to safety - all without compromising the integrity of the evidence they had that started this journey in the first place. Too much of that pulls me out of the book, but here everything was very believable.

At times, I felt the depth of the legalese got a bit overwhelming, but I'd just skim over those paragraphs, to where it got a little easier to follow. There were also times when I had a great deal of trouble feeling sorry for the family enmeshed in the legal trouble: a bunch of really rich people fighting over who got to have more money nobody knew what to do with? I have no way to relate to have $2 million, let alone losing it!

From the back of the book: "When two million dollars disappear from the trust fund of a rival firm's client, street-savvy South Philly corporate lawyer Dan Casella and his resourceful young assistant Jennifer Lodge must defend the accused embezzler. Naive but well-connected attorney Scott Sterling admits he took the money, but only in a desperate attempt to cover up staggering stock market losses in the account of Curtis Mason, the coal baron trustee who'd been like a father to Scott - and who is now suing for fifteen million dollars.

Late work nights bring Dan and Jennifer together - and to a passion they finally let explode. But when life intervenes, including a family crisis for Dan, a critical career move for Jennifer, and a very human misunderstanding, their relationship is severed - until betrayal, fraud, and murder at the highest tier of Philadelphian society bring them face to face - on opposite sides of the courtroom."