From Amazon.com
Frank and Barbara Holloway, the Pacific Northwest father-daughter legal duo familiar to Wilhelm's (
For the Defense,
Defense for the Devil) many fans, go east of the Cascades to Oregon's ruggedly beautiful high desert to investigate the strange death of Vinny Jessup. Was it a suicide staged to look like murder by Vinny's young wife Lara in order to collect a big insurance policy? Or was it murder set up to look like suicide by a right-wing judge in line for a nomination to the Supreme Court---the man Vinny Jessup believed responsible for framing his beloved younger son for murder nearly two decades ago? Wilhelm's strong suit is character development; here she introduces Manny Truewater, an intriguing Native American lawyer who was Vinny's partner and best friend (and worthy of a starring role in his own book), and also adds new dimensions to both the Holloways with a love affair that tests Barbara's commitment to her personal independence and a nascent career for Frank as a published writer. She's at her best when describing the power structures of a small town and the relationships that tie the Jessups to the ambitions of the people who really run things; while the pace is leisurely, the writing is assured, the ends neatly tied up, and the gorgeous landscape of a harsh and rugged region beautifully depicted.
--Jane Adams
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
The murder case against young widow Lara Jessup appears airtight after her wealthy, much older, and terminally ill husband Vinny is shot on a twisting Oregon mountain road, and legal eagle Barbara Holloway struggles mightily to construct a defense for Lara in the first half of Wilhelm's latest legal thriller. Holloway is certain that the mountain of evidence indicating that Lara shot Vinny and then tried to make it look like a suicide is part of a setup by Harris McReady, an ambitious candidate for the Oregon Supreme Court who was also involved in an earlier "accident" in which Vinny's son from a previous marriage was shot. But Holloway travels down a series of dead ends in her efforts to unearth clues in the Oregon desert town where McReady is using his ties with a powerful rancher, Thomas Lynch, to press his case, and a conviction seems imminent as depositions are taken before the trial. The resourceful lawyer hits pay dirt, though, when the final leg of the investigation leads to McReady's gorgeous but damaged wife, who is also Lynch's daughter, and the pace picks up considerably as she dissects her opponent's marriage of convenience and the Lynch family history, revealing a hornet's nest of shady deals and coverups. Wilhelm spends considerable prose developing her quirky cast of characters, using the eerie milieu of the Oregon high desert to set off the oddness of this likable group. The attention to detail slows things up a bit, but once the depositions start, the action turns electric as the story races to an intriguing ending. Her carefully crafted approach to the legal thriller continues to separate Wilhelm from the competition, and those who prefer both style and substance in their courtroom dramas will find this a satisfying read. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
