Breach of Trust

Breach of Trust takes us into the '90s-style looting and plundering of a multimillion-dollar trust, an intricate conspiracy fueled by financial cunning and lethal greed, set against an unexpected white-hot love affair between Dan Casella, street fighter turned corporate lawyer, and Jennifer Lodge, his resourceful, winsome associate.

A recent law school graduate, Jennifer is thrilled when Dan brings her on board to assist with a major case—the theft of two million dollars from the trust fund of a rival firm's client. Dan's job is to defend Scott Sterling, a naive, well-connected young attorney who swears that he took the money in a desperate attempt to cover up devastating stock market losses in the private investment account of the fund's trustee, coal baron Curtis Mason—who had been like a father to Scott. Now Mason is suing—for fifteen million dollars.

Late work nights and a killer snowstorm bring Dan and Jennifer together—and the passion they've been suppressing finally explodes. But after an intense, unforgettable weekend at the Jennifer’s rural carriage house, Dan is pulled back into South Philly's streets and a family crisis he can't ignore. Mistaking Dan's strict business ethics for cold-bloodedness, Jennifer makes a crucial career decision, followed by a personal one that will drastically affect her future—and draw her deeper into the case. As their lives and careers intertwine once more, Dan and Jennifer enter a deadly vortex of scandal, jealousy, blackmail, betrayal, and murder—and expose a fraud that will rock the city's legal community, and the very foundations of Philadelphia society.

Studded with an array of vividly realized characters, including charismatic corporate shark Jack Stengel; earthy police detective Mike diMaio; elegant, vodka-belting Cassie Chapman and her aristocratic father, Reese; and Dan's brother, Tony Casella, a volatile teenager flirting with crime, Bonnie MacDougal's BREACH OF TRUST is a savvy tour de force. Delivering deft plot twists, sharply observed players, an in-depth command of legal chicaneries, and an authentic feel for Philadelphia's rough streets, courtrooms, and elite preserves, it is an exceptional debut.

"BREACH OF TRUST is wonderfully exciting, a first-rate 'Once-upon-a-time-there-were-two lawyers' adventure. Bonnie MacDougal knows those three-piece pin-striped suits—and she also understands the hearts that beat beneath them."—Susan Isaacs, author of Lily White