Customer Reviews

Witness For The Defense

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book that kept me reading late into the night. Just when I thought the story had settled in to a certain direction, it took a twist that raised new questions and sent it off on a different path. The courtroom scenes were interesting and believable, the characters well-developed, and the writing smooth. I've enjoyed all this author's books, but Witness for the Defense is one of her best. A wealthy and well-known San Francisco couple, a hate-mongering radio host, a pregnant teenage girl with secrets of her own, a missing murder witness, and a sleuth whose involvement in the case isn't as straightforward as it first appears all add up to a winning combination.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first outing with Jonnie Jacobs' legal heroine Kali O'Brien. Returning to San Francisco after her married lover returned to his wife, Kali is just putting her life back together when another former boyfriend, Steven Cross, refers his sister Terri Harper to Kali to handle a pending adoption. Harper lost a child earlier when a parent changed her mind before the adoption was final so she sought legal advice. Things go haywire when a controversial radio talk show host, Bram Weaver, claims the child is his and announces his intention to gain custody. When Weaver is brutually murdered, Terri is picked up as the most likely subject.

Throughout the development and conduct of Terri's defense, Kali seeks to find other explanations of the circumstantial evidence against her client but desperately tries to find out alternative suspects. There are several interesting side plots, including resumption of a love interest between Kali and Steven Cross and the uncovering of the hit and run killer of Cross's wife and daughter.

I thought I discovered the real murderer through several obsure clues and was pretty sure I was right until the very end. The ending was a bit disappointing as the conclusion of several plot lines unraveled all at once in an unbelievable way.

Still the story was intriguing, the characters--including Kali's senior citizen roommates--likable and interesting and I had a great weekend read.

It was supposed to be a simple adoption. Attorney, Kali O'Brien had seen to it that everything was in place and would go smoothly. The birth mother, Melissa, a young college student who wanted her old life back, had signed all the necessary papers terminating her rights, as had the father and Terri and Ted Harper had brought their beautiful new daughter home. Within days, what all thought was a final adoption began to fall apart. Obnoxious, controversial radio talk show host, Bram Weaver, claims he's the baby's father and he wants his daughter. When Melissa doesn't dispute his claim, the Harpers are devastated and Kali gets to work preparing for an uphill custody battle that in her heart she knows her clients don't have a chance of winning. But when Weaver is found shot to death and evidence begins piling up against Terri, Kali begins a new fight to not only save her client, but to put this family back together..... Jonnie Jacobs has written a fast paced, page turner that's about to keep you up, reading all night. "Ripped from the headlines", her plot is compelling, with scenes full of suspenseful and riveting detail. Her characters are interesting and real and her writing, very crisp and smart, with good down to earth dialogue. As a practicing attorney, Ms Jacobs' expertise in the law and courtroom procedure, adds real credibility to the story. Witness for the Defense is a great read and a book that should be on all mystery/legal thriller lovers summer reading lists.

In the Bay area, former professional football star, Ted Harper and his wife Terri hire attorney Kali O'Brien to expedite an adoption. The teenage single woman Melissa Burke is living with the Harpers until she gives birth. Not her usual case, Kali could use the easy fee and begins to insure all the papers are properly signed including obtaining the signature of the father, Gary Ellis. Melissa gives birth to a healthy girl named Hannah. Case closed.

Case reopened when obnoxious anti feminine radio talk show host Bram Weaver claims to be Hannah's father. He demands the Harpers hand over his child. Kali begins preparation for what seems like a sure shot losing custody battle. However, that preparation changes when the same night that Bram spent a court ordered hour with Hannah, someone kills him. The obvious motive lies with Terri, who already attacked Bram in court, leaving Kali to defend her from a charge of murder one.

WITNESS FOR THE DEFENSE is an exciting legal thriller that twists and turns from a simple adoption to a relatively simple custody case to a complex homicide. Kali in her fourth appearance remains a refreshing attorney. The key secondary players (Harpers, Melissa, and Bram) provide the depth to the story line that turns this into an exhilarating tale. With this legal suspense series and her Kate Austen murder mysteries, Jonnie Jacobs continues to provide some of the best genre entertainment.

Harriet Klausner

A plot with issues straight from current events...adoption, rights of birth parents, what's best for the child, emotional issues of natural and adoptive parents. Throw in a murder and a trail without a clear cut idea of "who done it" and it's a good read.

A high profile couple has identified a young pregnant girl who is willing to allow them to adopt her baby. Shortly after the birth of the baby, Bram Weaver, a controversial talk show host, arrives on the scene claiming to be the father and insisting that he wants the baby himself. Kali O'Brien is the attorney of record for the couple because her former lover with excess emotional baggage is the brother of the adoptive mother. The talk show host is brutally murdered and Kali is left to defend the adoptive mother all the while trying to find out who actually did kill Bram Weaver.

...

This whole series is great, and Witness for the Defense is the best yet. Kali is a likeable, very human, character. She agrees to represent a couple who are set to adopt a baby being born to a young woman who is living with them. Then a chauvinistic radio talk show host claims to be the baby's father and won't agree to the adoption. When he's murdered, the police arrest Kali's client. The last part of the book covers the trial, and as usual, Jacobs keeps the courtroom stuff so interesting you're on the edge of your seat. There is a also a thread involving an ex lover of Kali's, who is her client's brother, and a thread involving a possible witness to the murder - a man who is reluctant to come forward. Highly readable, fast-paced novel with the right mix of suspense and careful characterization.

Jonnie Jacobs' writing has gotten significantly more sophisticated since her first Kate Austen mystery more than a decade ago. With multiple plot turns, layered characters, and vivid descriptions, Witness for the Defense definitely holds its own. There are some issues with plotting (would a wealthy couple with money to burn really opt for a defense lawyer no one has ever heard of, and who handles adoptions as well as criminal defense? Is it a little too unlikely that several plot lines would be tied together so neatly?), but overall, the book kept me guessing on several fronts until the end. The final revelations were more than a little bit out of left field, but I'm willing to overlook them in favor of Jacobs' clear, compelling writing.

for an attorney with a client on trial for murder, she spends an inordinate amount of time musing about her personal life and her unfulfilled emotional needs. an unseemly mix of diary type reflections and courtroom drama. abrupt,unsatisfying conclusion to the trial, after some workmanlike courtroom scenes. plot's loose ends are fastened by the convenient velcro of coincidence.

I am always excited to see a new book by Jonnie Jacobs, because I love her books and really liked the last one, Murder Among Strangers. In her new book, Jacobs writes about Kali O'Brien, an attorney in San Francisco. Kali takes what she thinks is a simple adoption cleanup and ends up embroiled in a high-profile murder case. Everytime I thought I knew where it was going, I was in for a surprise. The courtroom stuff was fantastic, and the ending just blew me away. An awesome read.

This book held my interest & was quite engaging. Not exactly a page-turner that I could not put down, but one I certainly had no trouble coming back to. Kali O'Brien is a likeable heroine and I look forward to reading more in the series. Recommended reading in the legal mystery/suspense genre.