From Publishers Weekly
There's a lot of bad blood around and not all of it on the slaughterhouse floor when St. Louis trial attorney Rachel Gold wades into the rough and tumble world of kinky sex, meatpacking and high-priced attorneys in her fifth adventure (after Due Diligence). Personal-injury lawyer Sally Wade hires Gold to sue her almost ex-husband, Neville McBride, for assault, offering her black eye and bruises as evidence. A week later, Wade is found dead in a pose identical to one in a pornographic photograph discovered in McBride's apartment; McBride's only alibi is a mystery lover who failed to show up that night. But Gold is persuaded by McBride's defense lawyer, Jonathan Wolf, despite his abrasive style, that the woman who hired her could have been an impostor. Digging through Wade's records, Gold finds a passport for brief trips to Hong Kong, a stash of bonds and stocks, a list of people and payments not on her client list and a receipt for some photographs. Inspired by her martial arts class, Gold confronts two of Wade's chasers, i.e., men and women who cruise the highway for victims who might be potential clients, survives two death threats and gets a chilling look at what goes on inside a modern slaughterhouse. With the assistance of her secretary, Jacki Brand, in the fifth month of turning his linebacker body into something feminine, and law professor Benny Goldberg, who thinks unrelenting verbal sexual assault is funny, Gold digs deep into the surprising market for animal byproducts in an intricate, suspenseful story.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Crusading lawyer Rachel Gold, previously seen in Death Benefits (Dutton, 1992) and Firm Ambitions (LJ 5/1/94), reappears to solve yet another mystery. This time, when one of her clients turns up dead, all signs point to the estranged husband, Neville. Neville's charming defense attorney is able to convince Rachel that the airtight case against him is a little too perfect, however, and Rachel sets out to find the truth. Much of the fun comes from novelist/trial lawyer Kahn's characters. Rachel's best friends are secretary Jacki (formerly Jack, a tall, heavily muscled ex-steelworker) and the obnoxious overeater Benny Goldberg, both introduced in earlier series titles. This lively cast of characters keeps the suspense moving and brings levity to the subjects of murder and deception. Recommended for popular collections.?Kathy Ingels Helmond, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L., Ind.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
