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(More customer reviews)Natasha Cooper's "Gagged & Bound" brings back Trish Maguire, a driven woman who has a difficult time juggling her personal life with her boyfriend, George, and her demanding job as a barrister. One day, a colleague asks Trish to mollify Beatrice Bowman, a hysterical author who is being sued for libel by an ambitious peer named Lord Simon Tick. Bowman has written a book about a nineteen-year-old radical student activist named Jeremy Marton who went to jail for setting off a bomb that killed and maimed a busload of schoolchildren back in the seventies. Tick is suing Bowman because the author quotes passages from Marton's diary in which he refers to a fellow protester with the code name "Baiborn." This happens to be the name by which Tick is known to his close friends and family. Had Tick been a terrorist himself back in his youth, or is it possible that two separate people both go by this unusual nickname?
Meanwhile, Caro Lyalt, an inspector in the Metropolitan Police force and Trish's close friend, is interviewing for a job as a liaison in the newly formed Serious Organized Crime Agency. Caro is shocked when her friend, Stephanie Taft, a constable known as a whistle blower, is shot shortly after imparting a shocking piece of information to Caro. Stephanie believed that a prominent member of the police force might be on the payroll of the Slabbs, a vicious organized crime family. The Slabbs are famous for their ruthlessness and for the sadistic way in which they punish informers. Caro soon involves Trish in this case, even though she knows that anyone who asks questions about the Slabbs may end up "gagged and bagged," with a stick forced between his teeth and a bag placed over his head until he runs out of oxygen.
"Gagged and Bound" is a dramatic tale of secrets, lies, crime, and corruption, as well as a compelling psychological mystery with a large cast of characters. Trish is a compassionate and tenacious person who acts first and thinks later, much to her boyfriend's consternation. Cooper beautifully depicts Trish's delicate relationship with her sensitive and loving partner, George, as well as with her vulnerable eleven-year-old brother, David, whom she is raising. Although the three have had some rough times, they are slowly beginning to gel as a family. Lord Tick is a slimy social climber who would do anything to preserve his reputation, and the Slabbs are as thuggish and ruthless as their name implies. As the story proceeds, Trish interviews a number of people who are able to shed light on the Baiborn and Slabb cases, and she eventually makes some startling discoveries. Unfortunately, Trish's inquiries draw the unwelcome attention of some unsavory individuals who attempt to frighten her into backing off.
Natasha Cooper has an understated yet powerful writing style. This is a thriller with depth, and reading it is like unpeeling the layers of an onion. As the layers comes off, we learn more about each character's motivations and inner demons, and along with Trish, we discover that the two cases preoccupying her are much more complex than she could ever have imagined when she first began her investigations. Although the conclusion has a few unnecessarily melodramatic elements, "Gagged & Bound" is an involving novel that should find a ready and appreciative audience.
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