Unlucky in Law (37 page)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

A man who claimed to be the last page to the last tsar of Russia is, in fact, buried in El Encinal Cemetery in Monterey. He said he taught the tsarevitch to ride a pony, and knew Rasputin. Our character and his descendants, while inspired by this story, are entirely fictional.

The facts regarding the Romanov family's execution at Ekaterinburg and exhumation of the remains of only five of the family in the 1990s are true. Alexis and one of the princesses were allegedly cremated, and their deaths have continued to be hotly disputed over the decades that followed, as no evidence of cremation has ever been found.

It's an unusual fact that a bone-marrow transplant gives the recipient, permanently, the blood DNA of the donor while the skin and hair DNA remains that of the recipient. Our thanks to Deej Dambrauskas for these facts.

Others, especially on the Web, have advanced the theory that the tsarevitch did not have hemophilia. He suffered from high fevers as part of his attacks, which is not characteristic of hemophilia but is characteristic of thrombocytophenia.

The last tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, loved to give unique, elaborate Fabergé eggs as gifts to his family.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As always, grateful thanks to our exceptional publisher at Bantam Dell, Irwyn Applebaum, and our insightful editor, Danielle Perez.

We owe too much to our agent and friend, Nancy Yost of Lowenstein-Yost Associates Inc., to express in a few words, but hey, thank you, you terrific woman.

We thank Dr. Ellen Taliaferro, co-founder of Physicians for a Violence-free Society, for related ideas. We consulted research on strangulation by Dean A. Hawley, MD, George E. McClane, MD, and Gael B. Strack, JD. (All errors are our own.) John Farrelly, cemetery coordinator at Cementario El Encinal, kindly shared his memories.

Pam would particularly like to thank the talented writers who taught, entertained, and kept her going during the writing of this book, all to be found at The Critical Poet's Final Polishing site (
http://pub8.ezboard.com/fthecriticalpoetsmessageboarfrm12
): dmehl808 (Dave Mehler), Drgib, Ashersimeon, jaxmyth, posthumous, cyberwrite, antidora, arabianlady, kdkaboom, eliashoi, ameuc, and all the rest.

Kudos to the members of Windward Oahu AAUW, who help so many; and to the unique characters in the Ladera Book Club, who provide such amusing intellectual distraction.

Thanks and love to the family and friends who sustain us: Andrew, Ardyth, Nita, Elizabeth, Brad, June, Connor, Cory, Stephanie, Joan, Meg, Patrick, Sylvia, and Frank.

ALSO BY PERRI O
'
SHAUGHNESSY

Motion to Suppress

Invasion of Privacy

Obstruction of Justice

Breach of Promise

Acts of Malice

Move to Strike

Writ of Execution

Unfit to Practice

Presumption of Death

UNLUCKY IN LAW
A Delacorte Book / July 2004

Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved
Copyright © 2004 by Pamela O'Shaughnessy and Mary O'Shaughnessy
Maps © 2004 by Jeffrey Ward

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.,
and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Visit our website at
www.bantamdell.com

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
O'Shaughnessy, Perri.
Unlucky in law / Perri O'Shaughnessy
p. cm.
1. Reilly, Nina (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Women lawyers—Fiction. 3. Tahoe, Lake, Region (Calif. and Nev.)—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3565.S542 U65 2004    2004047840
813/.54 22

eISBN: 978-0-440-33508-5

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