A HOPELESS CASE

by K.K. Beck ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1992

Here, the author moves away from her frequent 20's milieu (Peril Under the Palms, etc.) and into the life of one Jane da Silva, expatriate widow of a racing-car driver, brought back from Europe to her Seattle hometown by a legacy from her uncle Harold. To inherit the big bucks involved, Jane must prove she can continue his private charity: the finding and successful resolution of cases of true injustice--hopeless cases. One falls into her lap, however, through seedy but honest lawyer p.i. Calvin Mason: teenager, gifted pianist Leonora, daughter of burnt-out ex-hippie Kenny Martin and long-dead Linda Donnelly, has no money to further her career. Linda had given an inherited quarter of a million to her cult of the moment--the Fellowship of the Flame--and died of drowning soon after. Jane determines to recover the money and sets out to trace the now-defunct Fellowship's chief guru, upsetting lots of people along the way--one of them to the point of murder--but finally achieving her goal in a roundabout way. Despite all of this, the trustees ruling on Jane's worthiness to inherit decide she's still on trial, and the reader can envision a series of hopeless cases to come. Manages to stay just this side of silliness and be mildly entertaining in the process.

Pub Date: March 1, 1992

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Mysterious Press--dist. by Warner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1992

Categories: FICTION