In Janet Bettle"s Unnatural Causes, London solicitor Geri Lander is a figure designed to appeal to professional women--sure of herself, outspoken, and secretly a victim of crippling self-doubt: Geri had been known to reduce a company hatchet man to tears in the witness box. Each of her partners could recall ferocious outbursts from her which had left them reeling. Geri was no soft touch. But for some reason she lived in dread of the silent disapproval of Rory"s teachers. They must think she was failing him somehow: working all hours, sending an eclectic variety of after-school carers to pick him up. And there had been the business of her husband"s death... That death, a suicide, has left Geri controlling partner of the law firm Lander Ross, where she struggles daily to preserve the firm"s tradition of legal aid litigation. Her partners, eager to increase cash flow, have little patience with her willingness to take on seemingly hopeless causes on a conditional-fee basis. Naturally, they aren"t thrilled when she accepts a case from widow Joanna Pascoe, who is determined to discover the truth behind her husband"s death from food poisoning. That truth, when Geri stumbles upon it, has devastating consequences. Thomas Pascoe died because the British government turned a blind eye to poultry-farm management: chickens overmedicated with antibiotics have developed a "super-bug" that can resist all medical treatment. Geri must take on the Minister of Agriculture, who is desperate to silence the truth at any cost. Bettle"s first novel shows the occasional promise of good things to come. Her central characters are generally well drawn; she"s not afraid to use a modicum of humor; and the subplot involving a traitorous partner is a nice touch. However, its faults are serious enough to distress most readers who appreciate clarity of language, careful plot construction, and a judicious balance of action and character development. Bettle tends to belabor the obvious, to dwell on the most superficial of plot levels, and to launch into pedantic lectures on the nature of the British legal system. It may be impossible to make the chicken-antibiotic black market into fascinating literary fodder, so perhaps it should come as little surprise that Unnatural Causes is, unfortunately, a paltry--or poultry--endeavor. --Kelly Flynn