Kate Wilhelm returns to the marvelous milieu of Death Qualified with this page-turning legal thriller.

The neighborhood in Eugene, Oregon, is blue-collar; the cafe holds only three tables and four booths. But it's the only place attorney Barbara Holloway feels both productive and peaceful. Laptop computer on the table, coffee refilled regularly by the cook, Barbara gets her work done and wants for nothing more—certainly not another

When a well-bred client hands Barbara Holloway a large retainer and asks for complete anonymity, the Oregon attorney is both intrigued and suspicious. The woman, a respected music professor and member of a group that sponsors worthy causes involving women, wants Barbara to defend Carol Fredricks, a gifted young pianist who stands accused of murdering the manager of a piano bar.

Not long ago, Barbara heard Carol play, and that is enough to