Widows-in-Law

Near the outset of this overly ambitious thriller from Miller (The Thirteenth Step: Zombie Recovery), New York City family court prosecutor Lauren learns that her ex-husband and class action lawyer, Brian, has died in a hotel fire while on a business trip to Miami. Lauren and Brian’s current wife, Jessica, prepare to deal with Brian’s estate, but his law partner isn’t returning their calls. Lauren and Jessica decide to team up to make sure their interests and those of Lauren and Brian’s 16-year-old daughter, Emily, are protected. As they dig deeper into Brian’s business transactions, they discover a series of shady real estate deals, and suspect his death isn’t an accident. When Jessica is held at gunpoint, she discovers that Brian owes a crime lord $12 million. In order to stay alive, and to protect Emily, Lauren and Jessica must find a way to locate the money and return it. A surfeit of subplots touch on such matters as weapons smuggling, money laundering, internet gambling, the Mafia, sex and drug addiction, and a corrupt congressman. Readers will struggle to stay interested in the fates of the book’s stock characters. Agent: Susan Ginsburg, Writers House. (Feb.)