Oldies But Goodies: Gini Hartzmark
Out of print but check for used copies at our ABE store).
This will actually be a frustrating little essay for anyone who is intrigued by these titles, which are criminally out
of print, though we occasionally have used copies around. Gini Hartzmark's first legal thriller, Principal Defense,
won an Edgar for Best Paperback Original, and her subsequent novels (there are 6 total) were just as snappy, concise,
suspenseful and intelligent as the first one. I've recently re-read three of them, Rough Trade,
Final Option and Dead Certain (the last in the series). All of them feature deal making attorney Kate
Milholland, and in each one the deal she is working on is shoved to the side so she can deal with another problem that
usually is family or friend related, but the way Hartzmark weaves the families and friends into the storyline is always
believable.
To me the most enjoyable book in the series is Rough Trade, where Kate has been working herself to the bone on a
deal for some strip clubs (think a scummier version of "Hooters" and you get the idea), when she gets a call that her
best friend from childhood is in a mess. Her husband's father owns the (fictional) pro football team in Milwaukee, and
a deal to take the team out of town has stalled out because the stubborn father in law refuses to let his team go,
despite the dire financial straights they find themselves in. Anyone who's ever read a mystery knows that the father is
dead meat, but it's what Hartzmark does with the rest of the story that makes the book a standout.
Kate Milholland is an interesting character for several reasons - one of them is that her family is both
incredibly wealthy and incredibly disappointed in her (or at least her very swanky mother is). Kate had the bad taste
to fall in love with and marry the wrong guy who died six months later; widowed at a young age she throws herself into
her career and allows herself a boyfriend, Steven Azorini, who is completely acceptable to her family but who is, for
Kate, a convenience. Despite this she's bought a huge apartment on Chicago's Gold Coast with Steven and is spending
time she doesn't have going over the decorating details with her mother.
Meanwhile, she's dealing with her childhood
friend's believable shock - and grief, as her husband is charged with his father's murder - back in Milwaukee, as she
shuttles back and forth between the football deal, the stripper deal, and her mother's demands.
All the details in these books are just spot on, from the legal ones to the personal ones to, in the case of
Rough Trade, the football ones. Final Option is a fascinating look at the business of futures trading
(which I understand marginally more than I did when I started the book, it still seems somehow wrong to me) and the
interior of a very dysfunctional family;
Dead Certain is a close look at the inner workings of a hospital principally funded by Kate's own wealthy family
and staffed by Kate's also overworked roommate, Dr. Claudia Stein, a trauma surgeon. Every book in this series is crisp
and intelligent and it's really a shame they are out of print. If you ever see a used one, snatch it up without
delay - you won't be sorry!
Gini Hartzmark bibliography:
- Principal Defense (1992)
- Final Option (1994)
- A Bitter Business (1995)
- Fatal Reaction (1998)
- Rough Trade (1999)
- Dead Certain (2000)
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