Wilhelm, Kate

Cold Case

With no strong evidence, attorney Barbara Holloway's legal instincts are all she has. If they can't lead her to the truth, her client will die. But if she succeeds, her own life will be on the line.

Controversial author and scholar David Etheridge is not the kind of company an aspiring politician wants to keep. But ambitious state senator Robert McCrutchen has a history with Etheridge—a history he's desperately trying to keep under wraps.

Twenty-two years ago, while attending the University of Oregon, both men were investigated in the death of a young coed, but the case was never solved. A circle of secrecy guaranteed it. But the old stories resurface when Etheridge returns to Eugene, Oregon. Tied to their past, McCrutchen is his grudging host—until the senator is found shot dead.

Now Etheridge is back where he was more than two decades ago—suspected of murder. Only this time, with the cold case reopened, he's facing a double charge. And Etheridge might not be so lucky again.

Barbara must battle the prosecution and the court of public opinion, which has already tried and convicted Etheridge for both murders. As the pressure mounts, Barbara ties the past and present together, risking her own life to protect a client and preserve justice.

A Wrongful Death (Barbara Holloway Novels)

Who knew that being a Good Samaritan would lead Barbara Holloway to face her biggest challenge ever: being named prime suspect in a high-profile kidnapping?

Barbara's peace at her retreat on the Oregon coast is shattered when a terrified young boy leads her to a cabin in the woods where his battered mother has clearly been left for dead. Barbara runs for help, but by the time she returns both mother and son are gone.

The puzzle deepens when Barbara learns the boy she met is the grandson of a prominent family…and they have accused her of aiding his disappearance.

With the help of her father, Frank, she delves into the mystery, only to realize the kidnapping is a ruse for a more sinister plan—one that pits the meaning of family against cold hard cash.

Troubling obstacles thwart Barbara's every move—from the

justice system that employs her to the false identities of those around her. Yet none will compare with the shocking murder scene that awaits her.

The Price Of Silence

Disappearances. Murder. The Price of Silence in a Small Town.

In dire need of a job, Todd Fielding accepts the offer to work at The Brindle Times -- even if she has to move to the lackluster town of Brindle. As she settles into her new home, Todd is fully prepared to adapt to the boredom of small-town life, but her preconceptions of Brindle are completely shattered when a local girl disappears. Even more shocking to Todd is the town's sheer indifference to the incident. No one -- not ever the police -- appear particularly concerned.

When Todd looks deeper into the story, she discovers that five other girls have "run away" from Brindle under strange circumstances over the past twenty years. As she sets out to uncover the history of a town that has cloaked itself in secrecy for far too long, evidence of manipulation and cold-blooded murder begin to unravel. And Todd may be the next victim to pay the deadly price of silence.

Sleight Of Hand (Barbara Holloway Novels)

Gregarious Vegas entertainer Wally Lederer has a lucrative showbiz career, but when a childhood friend accuses him of stealing a valuable artifact, his checkered past comes back to haunt him. Wally claims he's turned his life around since spending time in the slammer for picking pockets, but will the police believe him? More important, does Barbara believe him when he pleads his case to her?

Wally swears he's innocent. But when his accuser is found murdered, Barbara knows Wally is in serious trouble— the police have named him as their prime suspect.

Barbara begins to dig up the dirt, and before long new evidence points toward an unlikely killer. Now Barbara must decide if protecting her client by revealing the truth will destroy another life she means to save.

Desperate Measures (Barbara Holloway Novels)

Oregon lawyer Barbara Holloway and her father, Frank, formerly her partner, find themselves on opposite sides in the murder of Gus Marchand, a case with two suspects. Kate Wilhelm gives this smoothly told version of "Beauty and the Beast" an interesting added dimension, since the relationship between the two equally hardheaded and talented lawyers has usually been collaborative, at least professionally. But when the school principal, who's Frank's client, dies under mysterious circumstances, Frank's determined not to let Barbara pin the blame on the dead woman in order to deflect attention from her own as-yet-unidentified client. By the time Frank learns that the defendant in question is Alex Feldman, a horribly disfigured and immensely secretive young man who was accused by Marchand of stalking his teenage daughter, the reader has begun to understand why Barbara is so convinced of Alex's innocence in Gus's death and so determined to protect him from public scrutiny.

Alex is a man with a secret: was Frank's late client (and friend) killed to protect it? As usual, Wilhelm devises a clever plot and peoples it with a cast of well-developed, fully human and complex characters. There's Alex himself, who's found a way to cope with the circumstances of his disfigurement and the rage and bitterness that might otherwise have consumed him; Graham Minick, the elderly doctor who has been his friend and confidante since he was a teenager; and Shelley, Barbara's beautiful young associate, who sees beyond Alex's ugliness and into his heart. By the time the trial of the man they call "the devil's spawn" begins, Frank and Barbara are on the same side, but it's the younger Holloway's star turn in the courtroom, which is where the novel really shines. A solid page turner that should delight the prolific Wilhelm's (No Defense, Defense for the Devil) many fans. --Jane Adams

Barbara Holloway has a reputation for taking on the toughest cases . . . and winning them. But this time she's up against an unbeatable opponent -- her father, the lawyer who taught her all she knows.

Gus Marchand, a hardworking, God-fearing farmer, is found dead on his kitchen floor, and suspicion soon falls on Alex Feldman, Marchand's hideously deformed neighbor. At the request of another attorney, Barbara agrees to defend the young man, whom most of the town has already condemned.

But there is another suspect, as well: Hilde Franz, a woman Gus had a very public altercation with just before he was murdered. Hilde also happens to be an old friend of Barbara's father, Frank, who, unaware of his daughter's involvement in the case, agrees to represent Hilde.

For the first time in her career, Barbara cannot turn to her father for advice. Quite the contrary: she has to stay one step ahead of him if she's to have any hope of saving her client. Because she knows only too well what kind of legal mind she's up against.

Defense For The Devil (Barbara Holloway Novels)

Can this marriage be saved? Oregon's take-no-prisoners defense attorney Barbara Holloway wed geologist John Mureau in her last book, and already things are looking bad. The problem isn't Barbara's lack of cooking skills: her father, Frank, has enough of those to spare and will whip up a gourmet meal for everyone in sight at the slightest pretext. Nor is it the crush of living and office space--renting two adjoining apartments in a new building in Eugene takes care of that. What really bothers John is the constant danger that Barbara's work conjures up for her, for her family, and now for his children, if they should be around when a case explodes.

Barbara Holloway is using every slick legal arrow in her quiver to make sure that her client, Maggie Folsum, gets to keep a large lump of cash that her career criminal husband left behind when he trashed Maggie's bed and breakfast and then was found beaten to death. The danger to Holloway begins when Maggie's brother-in-law is charged with the murder, even though the most obvious candidate is the crime boss who employed (and was double-crossed by) the late husband. Will Barbara fight off the IRS in time to defend the innocent brother-in-law? Will the mysterious mobster (powerful enough to make witnesses perjure themselves) actually give up his minions if pressed hard enough? Will John and Barbara stay together in those two terrific apartments, and will her white sauce ever work? Unlike most writers of legal thrillers, Wilhelm cares as much about her characters as she does about her courtrooms--which is why her books (including The Best Defense, For the Defense, The Good Children, and Justice for Some) are such genuine pleasures. --Dick Adler

In her three previous novel appearances, attorney Barbara Holloway has taken on the sort of cases no one else wants--hopeless messes, all of them--and with the help of her father, Frank, she has pulled through each time.

But even from the start, this new case is different. In order to clear up the murder of Mitch Arno, she's going to face a worthy opponent: herself.

Mitch Arno always meant bad news for the coastal town of Folsum, Oregon. When they ran him out of town seventeen years ago, he left behind a wife with two daughters and a family that never wanted to see him again.

When he returns, he brings trouble in the form of a lot of suspicious money. As Barbara attempts to counsel Mitch's wife about the money, a second form of trouble arrives: a corpse. Mitch's. And now Barbara is in a morass of conflicting interests, and the only way out could lead her straight into the arms of the devil.

Defense for the Devil is another page-turning delight from the queen of courtroom drama.

Death Qualified (Barbara Holloway Novels)

Five years ago Barbara Holloway gave up practicing law, disillusioned with a profession that put politics before justice. Then she receives a phone call, with a simple message: "I need you."

Nell Kendrick's husband disappeared seven years earlier, abandoning his young family. Nell hasn't seen him since -- until the day Lucas Kendricks arrives at the edge of her property and is shot, instantly killed.

Accused of his murder, Nell turns to lawyer Frank Holloway for help. But Frank knows he cannot win this case alone. He calls upon his daughter, Barbara, who remains "death qualified" -- legally able to defend clients who face the death penalty if convicted.

Barbara is determined to stay distanced from the case, but the more she learns, the more questions she finds herself asking. Is Nell innocent, as Frank attests? Where has Lucas Kendricks been for the past seven years? Despite her vow, Barbara finds herself drawn to the case . . . and reclaims the search for truth that first led her to the law.

No Defense (Barbara Holloway Novels)

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

Barbara Holloway's a trial lawyer who tends to take on difficult cases. One involved a woman accused of killing her own child, another involved a mentally handicapped man, and her last one found her entangled in such a mess that it's a wonder she lived through it at all.

But in every previous case she has had some fragment with which she could build an argument. This time out, it seems there's no defense at all.

Lara and Vinny Jessup had a lovely May-December marriage. It renewed his lease on life after a battle with cancer, and it rescued her from a bad first marriage.

Initially, the sheriff out in Loomis County thinks that Vinny died when his car rolled over on a bad curve on Lookout Mountain. Then he finds the gunshot wound. Was it suicide or was it murder? With a large insurance policy as her motive, Lara could have staged the death---or so it appears to the sheriff.

Barbara Holloway finds herself drawn to the Oregon desert to take on this case, accompanied by her associates: her colleague Shelley with her Barbie-doll looks, the inimitable detective Bailey Novell, and her father Frank (who's soon to be a published writer!).

But the case itself is as dead as the desert. Is there any defense at all?

Compelling and distinctive, this drama demonstrates anew why Kate Wilhelm is considered a master of the form.

The Unbidden Truth (Barbara Holloway Novels)

Oregon lawyer Babara Holloway has a reputation for taking on the most difficult cases -- and winning them. But even she can't begin to anticipate the bizarre twists waiting ahead.

The large retainer offered by a client who asks for complete anonymity is not the only thing that intrigues Barbara Holloway. The defendant, Carol Fredricks, is a gifted young pianist charged with killing the manager of a piano bar. But Carol is as much of a mystery as the details of the murder for which she is accused. She can't remember anything about her life before the age of eight, and she has been having haunting nightmares about a woman she cannot identify.

Before long Barbara becomes convinced that her client is not only innocent, but is being framed by an enemy who will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. And as she unravels the stunning trail of deception, hatred and a remarkable abiding love that holds the key to the mystery of Carol Fredricks, Barbara discovers that the unbidden truth may just damn them both.

Clear and Convincing Proof

The Kelso-McIvey rehabilitation center, a place of hope and healing for both its patients and dedicated staff, is about to be destroyed. David McIvey plans to replace it with a massive new surgery center, with himself at the helm. When McIvey is murdered outside the clinic's doors, lawyer Barbara Holloway must use her razor-sharp instincts and take-no-prisoners attitude to defend the two members of the clinic accused of his murder.