Pursuit of Justice

Latt (Power of Attorney) strives for breathless intrigue, but daytime-drama values render this legal thriller unintentionally droll. One minute, Rebecca Morland is slow-dancing on a ""huge private motor yacht"" with husband Ryan; the next minute, his drowned body is savaged by circling sharks. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department declares Ryan a suicide, and Ryan's law partners readily agree, announcing that he's been embezzling from the partnership. But Rebecca, herself a lawyer, is incredulous: Ryan was not a thief and was too much in love to take his own life. Why, they were even nervously awaiting blood-test results to confirm her much-desired pregnancy. So, patting her queasy tummy, Rebecca launches into her own investigation of Ryan's unsavory partners: jilted vixen Catherine Dennison (who says ""very well"" instead of ""okay""); ""perpetually cunning"" John Evans; ""stately managing partner"" Brandon Taylor, who has unfathomable ties to sleazy Republican power-brokers. Like the makers of TV soaps, Latt characterizes by coiffure: Rebecca's ""red hair cascaded over her should in a mass of curls,"" but the hair of dubious characters is ""streaked,"" ""sleek,"" ""dirty-blond"" or ""scraggly."" When Rebecca meets a deputy DA with ""curly brown hair worn rather long,"" we know she won't be grieving forever. The many tinselly details (such as a mustachioed villain's ""fawn-colored jodhpurs"") border on self-parody, but what is most preposterous here is the wooden dialogue. Says a ""top investigator,"" ""I take it something's wrong or you wouldn't have wanted to meet me away from the office where we can't be overheard."" If only. (Feb.)