SYNOPSIS
Two female lawyers living the high life in the South of France explore the limits of their own corruption when they find themselves at the mercy of their dangerous clients who would prefer to kill them than be exposed.
Who will pay the ultimate price?
Vanessa and Kate live a glamorous life in the South of France helping the rich stay richer by hiding their money. While they know it’s wrong, that their clients are corrupt, they are professionals and good at their jobs. Plus, there is the money . . .
When their boss draws them deeper into his web of corruption, the chic veneer of their existence falls away, along with their excuses, leaving both women dangerously exposed to the lures of greed, gambling and hazardous liaisons. Vanessa and Kate become desperate for an escape route, a way to beat the system without destroying themselves, but the only ones available make them worse than those they are seeking to evade. While one woman pulls away from corruption, the other is drawn in. But just how far will each of them go for money – their clients’ and their own – before a woman is killed?
Amidst the opulence of the Côte D’Azur, Bay of Thieves explores the distorting power of wealth and its ability to destroy beliefs held over a lifetime.
MY THOUGHTS
I absolutely love where this story is set, although not sure I would feel very comfortable there. Everything sounds so opulent, and classy. Imagining all these wealthy people walking around.
I will be honest and say I wasn’t very keen on many of the characters, the only one who seemed to stay true to herself and try and keep her morality was Kate. She was new in the South of France, a lawyer, who is trying to pay for her mums care in a home, she has taken on the job because of the wages offered. But when she is asked to do something that is corrupt she feels under a lot of pressure and tries to find a way of not doing what she has been asked. Vanessa on the other hand has been there for a while and has already been manipulated, and once you have done something once it is expected again and again.
As the story begins a woman’s body is found, but who is it? The story then goes back six weeks to when Kate arrives to start her new job, Vanessa is the one to show her around, but Kate picks up some things from Vanessa that make her a little wary.
The main thing about this story is evading taxes, money laundering, greed, corruption. Can Kate avoid doing what her bosses Rob and Julia want her to do, which is to find a fake document, or actually make a fake document, which would close a class action suit of a case being brought against the company mechanic’s and garage workers who had lost hearing whilst working for Falkon Racing owned by Amir Federovich. This was Meritus’s biggest client which is why Rob and Julia want this litigation to disappear. But Kate wants to find a way out of doing this as it will be her name and her reputation that would be damaged.
Vanessa has already crossed the line, and now wants out, can she find it? She has realised the money is not worth it, her 13 year old son, David, is in a private school, she doesn’t see him much and misses him. Her ex husband Pascal had hidden all of his money before they divorced abandoning both Vanessa and their son. Vanessa is on a slippery slope of drinking, gambling and finding herself waking up with different men. She realises it has to stop. But she knows there is evidence against her.
This is a well paced story, surrounding the rich and their tax havens, and the levels they will go to, to keep more money. I enjoyed reading this, the descriptions of Monaco, Nice and along the South of France all sounded so beautiful. Obviously not all who go there are dishonest. But there were quite a few in this novel. Seeing the differences from Kate and Vanessa’s sides was interesting.
Both Kate and Vanessa are bright clever women, can they survive? Can they outsmart Rob? Whose latest venture is a type of crypto currency called LuckyCoin his targets are people in Africa, but first he needs investors. Could Rob have bitten off more than he could chew? Will Rob’s house of cards come falling down or will he be able to wheedle his way out of it?
The story will keep you turning the pages, the pace is fast, the plot is well thought out, the characters are believable, if not likeable. I was engrossed wanting to know how this was going to end.
.
Jackie’s Reading Corner 