Her Deadly Game

Rossi is a detective with the Seattle Police Department’s violent crime unit. Aside from Keera, Rossi is the only other character whose perspective Dugoni represents. Rossi is an experienced detective and worked with Keera before when she was with the prosecutor’s office. Over the course of the novel, Rossi shows himself to be a good judge of character and a man of integrity: When he has a hunch that something is wrong with the medical examiner’s report, he makes sure a copy gets to Keera even though he shouldn’t. Although Rossi and Ambrose are technically on the same side, Dugoni uses them as foils, juxtaposing the two men to contrast Ambrose’s unethical conduct with Rossi’s integrity.

Dugoni gives Rossi’s character some depth and suggests that he does have a life outside work, such as driving a custom “1969 Pontiac GTO, custom painted British racing green” (27). Like Keera, he has a competitive side, which appears when he becomes fixated on trying to beat Ford to a crime scene. Rossi is set up as a potential future love interest for Keera, as he has confessed in the past to his attraction to her. Rossi’s admiration of Keera also serves to provide an outside perspective on her, and he confirms that she is a “brawler” like her father.

Rossi’s point of view keeps the reader apprised of what is happening in the police’s investigation, as well as giving the reader insight that Keera doesn’t have. For example, without Rossi’s perspective, the reader would not know about Cliff Larson’s murder. His perspective is crucial because Keera isn’t investigating the murder beyond the scope of the trial and isn’t privy to the information or access that Rossi has. His former connection with Keera also gives them the personal connection that helps Keera find out about the medical examiner’s report. Rossi thus serves the purpose of subverting Miller Ambrose’s plan to withhold information from Keera.

Patsy is Keera’s father and founder and head of the family law firm. A former Golden Gloves boxer, Patsy is pugnacious in the courtroom as well, with an aggressive style that has earned him the nickname “Irish Brawler.” Besides his winning trial record and bold style, Patsy is also known for his alcohol misuse, and in the opening chapters, he lets Keera down by failing to show up for court after getting drunk at lunch.

This sets the tone for Keera and Patsy’s relationship—his challenge throughout the novel is to maintain his sobriety during the trial and regain Keera’s trust. His performance in court impresses Keera, and Bernadette confirms that although lately Patsy feels like he’s “starting to slip” (43), his confidence and energy increase as the trial continues. In the end, Patsy uses his reputation for alcohol misuse to stall the trial, sacrificing his reputation. However, Patsy has been observing Keera too, and throughout the trial, he sees that she can hold her own and take his place in the firm. He takes the opportunity both to save the trial and to step back from the firm with this one move.

Although Patsy’s connection to Keera at the beginning of the story is tenuous, they have a strong foundation in their shared love of chess. Even when Keera won’t play with him in person, Patsy shows his determination to reconnect with her by playing her anonymously online. In his trust in Keera and his willingness to pass his firm, and even his nickname, along to her, Patsy shows both his integrity and his love of his family.

Vince becomes Keera’s client when he is suspected of the murder of his wife, Anne. When Keera first meets him, he is in the police station on the night of his wife’s death, “a good-looking man wearing the remains of a tuxedo” (64). In the beginning, Keera feels sure that he is innocent, despite the overwhelming statistics in similar cases that point toward the husband. However, her perspective on him changes until, by the end of the trial, he reminds her of Ambrose.

Vince’s character doesn’t change throughout the novel, but Keera and Rossi’s perception of him does. As the novel progresses, details of Vince’s childhood and history slowly unfold via Jack Worthing’s clues, and each offers a revelation about his character. Incident after incident shows him to be obsessed with money and status and willing to lie and steal to get it. However, as Keera notes, Vince is a survivor. As a child, he created an alter ego—Jack Worthing—who was everything he was not. This identity could do things that young Vince couldn’t do, and this compartmentalization enables Vince to feel no guilt or remorse for his crimes. When his murder of Cliff Larson is discovered, it is clear how far Vince is willing to go to keep his wealth and status. Vince thus illustrates The Intersection of Status, Wealth, and Morality.

Ella and Maggie are Keera’s older sisters, both of whom work at the family law firm. Ella is the eldest daughter, Maggie is in the middle, and Keera is the youngest. Ella has a law degree and is a managing partner at the firm, but she is “not a great trial attorney. She [is] steady, deliberate, and reliable, qualities that also ma[k]e her predictable. [She] d[oes]n’t have Patsy’s instincts, or his ability to think on his feet, anticipate arguments, and get ahead of the prosecution’s moves” (122-23). Ella understands this, however, and knows that administration is her strength. Maggie is a paralegal and serves as the receptionist and general associate at the firm. As Keera works to define her new role in the family and the firm, one of her challenges is forcing her sisters to take her seriously as the youngest sibling. As she rebukes Ella at one point, “You are talking for me. You always have. You and Maggie” (183). At first, Keera’s sisters treat her as a younger sibling rather than a professional attorney, even when they are at work, but this attitude shifts with Keera’s success.

Ella and Maggie also serve as both examples and warnings for Keera: She thinks of them as two different examples of how to live one’s life in the wake of a parent with an alcohol use disorder but is determined not to follow in the footsteps of either. On a personal level, Ella and Maggie are opposites: Ella is measured and calm, while Maggie is volatile and bitter. Ella doesn’t date—Keera thinks “the fallout from their father’s drinking had soured her on men, the institution of marriage, and raising a family” (220)—while Maggie “[goes] through boyfriends the way some women [go] through shoes” (23). Keera sees both her sisters’ lives as defined by Patsy’s drinking, from their beliefs about marriage to their respective roles at the firm. With their examples, Dugoni illustrates the different ways in which the siblings have adapted to their father’s drinking, thereby contrasting with Keera’s determination to confront it head-on.