A wealthy Philadelphia family's dysfunction threatens to undo them in the engrossing latest from Scottoline (What Happened to the Bennetts). Married attorneys Paul and Marie Devlin work beside their two eldest children and fellow lawyers, John and Gabrielle, at their esteemed family firm. TJ, the youngest Devlin, is a recovering alcoholic with a criminal record who works as the firm's informal "investigator," spending most of his days doing busywork to keep him out of trouble. When John tells TJ he may have accidentally killed a client one night, a shocked TJ agrees to help his brother avoid arrest. As TJ digs deeper into the client's death, however, he uncovers his siblings' involvement in a vast pharmaceutical conspiracy that puts his safety and sobriety at risk. Scottoline successfully anchors the story's legalese and shady pharma dealings in TJ's personal struggles, wringing real emotion from his gradual realization that, while he may be the Devlins' black sheep, he's far from the family's most amoral member. The midsection sags a bit, but for the most part, this is a ripping blend of legal and family drama. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (Mar.)

The ne'er-do-well son of a successful Irish American family gets dragged into criminal complications that suggest the rest of the Devlins aren't exactly the upstanding citizens they appear. The first 35 years in the life of Thomas "TJ" Devlin have been one disappointment after another to his parents, lawyers who founded a prosperous insurance and reinsurance firm, and his more successful siblings, John and Gabby. A longtime alcoholic who's been unemployable ever since he did time for an incident involving his ex-girlfriend Carrie's then 2-year-old daughter, TJ is nominally an investigator for Devlin & Devlin, but everyone knows the post is a sinecure. Things change dramatically when golden-boy John tells TJ that he just killed Neil Lemaire, an accountant for D & D client Runstan Electronics. Their speedy return to the murder scene reveals no corpse, so the brothers breathe easier--until Lemaire turns up shot to death in his car. John's way of avoiding anything that might jeopardize his status as heir apparent to D & D is to throw TJ under the bus, blaming him for everything John himself has done and adding that you can't trust anything his brother has said since he's fallen off the wagon. TJ, who's maintained his sobriety a day at a time for nearly two years, feels outraged, but neither the police investigating the murder nor his nearest and dearest care about his feelings. Forget the forgettable mystery, whose solution will leave you shrugging instead of gasping, and focus on the circular firing squad of the Devlins, and you'll have a much better time than TJ. As an adjunct member says, "You're not a family, you're a force." Exactly, though not in the way you'd expect. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Philadelphia's Devlin & Devlin law firm wields considerable influence thanks to married founding attorneys Paul and Marie Devlin. But beneath the surface, the family is struggling: the firm's investigator, TJ, is a recovering alcoholic and felon; golden-boy attorney John is hiding dangerous secrets; and their sister Gabby has her hands full playing family peacemaker and pro bono crusader. The façade cracks after John demands that TJ help him cover up an accidental murder. John claims that he was forced to defend himself after confronting a thief who was embezzling from a longtime client. When he and TJ return to the scene, the thief, apparently somehow alive, is gone. Days later, the embezzler is found murdered in his car. John clearly knows more than he's telling, but diverts suspicion by framing TJ and discrediting him with accusations that he has relapsed. With homicide investigators circling, TJ hits the trail of the killers who are lining up their next shot at the Devlins. Here, the tense mystery plays out as a catalyst for redemption and family healing--Scottoline's heart-warming specialty.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A new family thriller by best-selling Scottoline is automatically a must-have.