A Radical Departure [Mass Market Paperback]

Lia Matera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 1991

"Has almost everytrhing a good mystery needs...a complex plot, social commentary, loads of atmosphere and a cast of unusual characters...The reader wants to hang out with Jansson and see more of her clear-eyed view of the world."
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Working for a fat-cat San Francsico law firm, Willa Jansson thought she'd seen everything. Then her boss dies from hemlock poisoning. Things go from awful to outrageous when Willa's rad-lib mother, a former client of the deceased, is suspiciously named in his will to inherit his fantastic home in the hills. By now Willa is frantic to discover what's going on around her. Poking into the recent past and the apolitical present, she fishes out an old boyfriend she'd rather forget, a cop she hates on principle, and a famous law firm that can barely make ends meet. It's a pretty good catch for a first-year associate--considering that, in the meantime, someone is trying to kill her....

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"Has almost everytrhing a good mystery needs...a complex plot, social commentary, loads of atmosphere and a cast of unusual characters...The reader wants to hang out with Jansson and see more of her clear-eyed view of the world."
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Working for a fat-cat San Francsico law firm, Willa Jansson thought she'd seen everything. Then her boss dies from hemlock poisoning. Things go from awful to outrageous when Willa's rad-lib mother, a former client of the deceased, is suspiciously named in his will to inherit his fantastic home in the hills. By now Willa is frantic to discover what's going on around her. Poking into the recent past and the apolitical present, she fishes out an old boyfriend she'd rather forget, a cop she hates on principle, and a famous law firm that can barely make ends meet. It's a pretty good catch for a first-year associate--considering that, in the meantime, someone is trying to kill her....

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 149 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 13, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345371267
• ISBN-13: 978-0345371263
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,964,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Second novel in the attorney Willa Jannson mystery series., July 8, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: A Radical Departure (Mass Market Paperback)

> This book follows _Where Lawyers Fear to Tread_. Willa's passed the bar and now working as a underpaid associate with legendary radical lawyer Julian Warneke's firm. The only problem is: Warneke gets poisoned at a posh restaurant, and the media love the coincidence of Willa's presence, given the previous "law school murders."
> Willa's left-wing parents, especially her mother, have a larger role in this novel than in the earlier one. For example, they have been Warneke's clients for some 15 years' worth of picketing and slammer time.
> The series is a good read, with a likeable, realistic heroine who smokes a little dope when she gets stressed and doesn't have all the answers all the time.