The dynamic star of Death Qualified and The Best Defense returns in a new thriller. Someone has murdered one of Oregon's senators. Teddy Wendover, a 28-year-old man whose mental age is eight, has been accused of the crime. The case will severely tax the talents of defense attorney Barbara Holloway, as she tries to prove Teddy's innocence.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Forget about Grisham, Turow and all those other scribbling ex-lawyers. The best writer of legal mysteries working today is Kate Wilhelm of Eugene, Oregon. Her first two books about Barbara Holloway -- The Best Defense and Death Qualified -- were sleeper successes. Holloway is a marvelously dense and thorny character, and her father and legal colleague is equally interesting. "He resolutely denied himself awareness of the time clock ticking away, and while denying it, he tried to remember if she was thirty-nine or forty," Wilhem writes of father Frank thinking about his daughter. "In his head, she was sometimes a very young girl, and then a woman older and wiser than he was; he no longer knew which image was more accurate. He suspected she was both, and then a few others, too."
From Publishers Weekly
Wilhelm doesn't fool around: she writes clean, clear prose about real people in sometimes loopy legal situations. Returning from The Best Defense (1994), Eugene, Ore., lawyer Barbara Holloway and her 75-year-old father and partner, Frank, are hired to defend strapping Teddy Wendover, a severely retarded 28-year-old accused of murdering a congressman. Teddy, stuck at the mental age of eight after a childhood accident, is a wonderfully realized character, sweet without a drop of sentimentality. As the Holloways fight the legal-psychiatric establishment's efforts to institutionalize Teddy, who lives with his loving, well-off parents, the prosecution switches its focus to Teddy's father, Ted senior. It turns out that Ted's wife, Carolyn, had carried on a 15-year affair with the late congressman, providing the DA (and a pro-prosecution judge) with motive. Meanwhile, there are two other murders that Barbara is sure are connected with this one, but the judge blocks any linkage. The Holloways' investigation uncovers a large real estate development scheme (and links to the other murders), Barbara falls in love again (suddenly but believably) and there's a corker of a trial. As Wilhelm spins her riveting tale, she not only makes the legal system comprehensible and compelling but also makes her readers care about her characters, particularly the efficient yet vulnerable Barbara. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Born in 1928, Kate Wilhelm the author of more than thirty novels including Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang and The Unbidden Truth. Her work has been adapted for TV and film and translated into twenty languages. She has been awarded the Prix Apollo, Kurd Lasswitz, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. In 2003, she was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Her short fiction appeared in landmark anthologies such as Again Dangerous Visions, Orbit, The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women, and The Norton Book of Science Fiction. A cofounder of the Clarion Writers' Workhops, she continues to host monthly writing workshops in Eugene, Oregon.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A nice 'read a chapter before naptime' book.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Malice Prepense (Hardcover)
Pleasant characters and reasonably good setting descriptions, make this a nice book with which to avoid any deep involvement. There are also some rather cute love scenes--and talk about your family values! I really did enjoy this book at a time when I was tired of psychological thrillers and graphic murder scenes.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Story...if you like highly detailed courtroom drama,
This review is from: Malice Prepense (Hardcover)
Wilhelm always features interesting, real-life characters, believable situations and tense drama. Malice Prepense doesn't disappoint. The only problem I had with this book was extreme detail of the trial. A huge portion of the book is devoted to word-for-word trial testimony of days and days and days of trial. For me, anyway, the book really bogged down with all the trial coverage. Overall, a good story. Just be ready to live and breathe every thought Barbara Holloway has during a long trial.
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