JACKPOT JUSTICE

A first novel introducing Cassandra "Cassie" Ringwald, Ph.D., of Cedar Grove in northern California, a clinical psychologist

hired by lawyer Richard Peck for her first job: a forensic evaluation of his client Homer Johnson. Homer is accused of assaulting Anerd Woods, owner of a local used-auto-parts business. Although born to a local Indian tribe, Homer is proud of his membership in the White People’s Brigade, a virulently racist organization whose nasty members have only contempt for him. The charges against Homer escalate to murder when Anerd’s head is found in the county dump. The trail produces some strange stories about Anerd, his wife, Mavis, and daughter, Verlan. Homer is off the hook, but the case’s final resolution takes place at the county dump, where it all began. The prose is brisk and clear, the heroine appealing; what is neither clear nor convincing is the rambling, shapeless plot or

the overpopulated clutch of disagreeable characters who make this a debut not for the squeamish.