Prior Convictions [Hardcover]

Lia Matera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1991

Willa Jansson is a cynical ex-radical who worked in an L.A. corporate law firm for a year and has the scars to prove it. Back home in San Francisco, her still activist parents ask her to do a favor for an ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend. And she quickly becomes embroiled in a case of conflicting interests, slow-dying passions, and political grudges that can kill....

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this intricate tale of duplicity with overtones of '60s politics, a San Francisco woman fears she betrayed a member of the witness relocation program. Simon & Schuster will publish Matera's latest mystery, A Hard Bargain , in May also.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Willa Jansson is a cynical ex-radical who worked in an L.A. corporate law firm for a year and has the scars to prove it. Back home in San Francisco, her still activist parents ask her to do a favor for an ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend. And she quickly becomes embroiled in a case of conflicting interests, slow-dying passions, and political grudges that can kill.... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (March 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671685600
• ISBN-13: 978-0671685607
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,257,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent mystery with humor and strong characters., March 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Prior Convictions (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the best of the early Willa Jansson stories. (I haven't yet read the recent volumes that came out after a 5-year hiatus.) Focussing as usual on Willa's personal and professional crises, Matera puts Willa in yet another new job as a clerk for a federal judge, where a casual meeting with a high-powered lawyer leads to complications. Willa has clearly been set up, but by who and why? Willa searches for these and other answers with her ever-present supplies of wit and marijuana.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Out of the past, October 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Prior Convictions (Hardcover)

Willa Jansson is back from a year spent in exile, working for a large corporate firm in Los Angeles for the sake of her resume and bank account. Now she is back in San Francisco clerking for a judge. Before she knows it, she is in the middle of another confusing situation as a result of doing the favor for an old friend. This book was particlarly satisfying as it explored the motivations and conflicts of the anti-war activists. Willa's conflicts are many and the motives and motivations of the characters keeps us on the edge of our chair till the end.

4.0 out of 5 stars ideals lost, November 7, 2000

By 

"donatdeux" (maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prior Convictions (Mass Market Paperback)

the pot-smoking flower child daughter of beatnik idealists agonizes over lawyering in the materialistic culture of the early nineties. insightful look at politics in the judiciary. the protagonist's angst is infectious.