STAR WITNESS: A Willa Jansson Mystery [Hardcover]

Lia Matera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 11, 1997 | Series: Willa Jansson Mystery

Attorney Willa Jansson finds herself defending a man who has been indicted for a hit and run accident but who claims to have been abducted by aliens before the accident happened. 17,500 first printing. Tour."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Remember the "Twinkie Defense," where a lawyer tried to get his client off on a murder charge on the basis of too much sugar in his diet? Fictional (but totally believable) San Francisco attorney Willa Jansson goes one step beyond in this addition to Lia Matera's lively series: Willa uses the "UFO Defense," based on her client's memories (revealed under hypnosis) of being in an alien spaceship when his sports car went off the road and killed another driver. Jansson finds four squabbling UFO experts to support this defense strategy, and not the least of Matera's many high points in a book full of them is her ability to convince us that it might just have happened. Previous Jansson cases in paperback include Last Chants, Hidden Agenda, Prior Convictions, and Radical Departure.

From Library Journal

In the latest Willa Jansson mystery from Matera (Last Chants, LJ 6/1/96), the Scopes Monkey trial and the trial of O.J. Simpson haunt San Francisco business lawyer Willa when she unwisely takes on a vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run case in nearby Santa Cruz. Her client's alibi: he was being abducted by aliens. Willa doesn't know what or whom to believe following a series of unexplained events, including crop circles, assassination attempts, and black-helicopter sightings, to name a few. Matera offers a fast-paced narrative stuffed with incident and characters. She has done her UFO homework and depicts the subculture of ture believers sympathetically. Willa's four expert witnesses present some current perspectives on UFOs?their bickering is both informative and funny?and Matera resists pat answers. The complex plot sometimes borders on the incoherent, however, featuring many red herrings and some undeveloped story lines, and not all members of the unpredictable cast are well integrated into the novel. Following the story, Matera offers an extensive bibliography and a video list. For general readers.?Linda Lee Landrigan, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (June 11, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684834693
• ISBN-13: 978-0684834696
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,108,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful mystery with a new element -- an alleged UFO abdu, March 20, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Witness (Willa Jansson Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lia Matera's mysteries are usually fun, but I particularly enjoyed this one. My work is in the paranormal community (a magazine dealing with UFOs, psychic phenomena, ghosts, etc.), and Matera has quite accurately captured the atmosphere of ufology today -- the eccentric and level-headed participants, the internecine rivalries. I was amazed by her perceptiveness and really quite even-handed treatment of this subplot in her novel. Don't be misled by these comments, however; this is not a UFO book; it is first and foremost a mystery. Matera's protagonist, Willa Janssen, is caught up in the complexities of defending a client with an impossible alibi; she doesn't know whether to believe him or not; yet she must make a convincing case to the jury. Is is possible that her client WAS abducted by aliens? Is he delusional? or Was he driving the car that caused the deaths of another car's occupants?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, simple story about a law case, October 15, 2004

By 

DWD "DWD's Reviews" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Star Witness (Audio Cassette)

I'm reviewing this as a book on tape - more on that below.

Part of my positive reaction to this book, I am sure is a negative reaction I've recently had to several books on tape that I've listened to lately. Some have tried too hard to be overly-complicated. Some have injected way too much romance, so much that you forget it was supposed to be a legal thriller with a bit of romance, not a romance with a bit of legal thriller. However, this story is a no-frills, just-the-facts-ma'am legal story - thank goodness!

Now, this is not to say that it is not entertaining and the facts are not truly bizarre.

Matera's book is set in California and involves a man who is arrested for vehicular manslaughter, but he claims he can't have done it since he was being probed by aliens in their spaceship at the time. Matera neither ridicules nor endorses the concept of alien abduction, much to her credit.

The audiobook version was performed by Alexa Bauer and she did an absolutely wonderful job. Kudos all around!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars missing time, November 28, 2000

By 

"donatdeux" (maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: STAR WITNESS: A Willa Jansson Mystery (Hardcover)

grown-up hippie, willa jansson, a truly unique practioner of law, launches an outer limits defense of a mycologist accused of vehicular manslaughter. defense experts provide a veritable symposium on unexplained phenomena. engagingly wacky tone and wide ranging speculation complete with a bibliography.