Kate Wilhelm

Who knew that being a Good Samaritan would lead Barbara Holloway to face her biggest challenge ever: being named prime suspect in a high–profile kidnapping?

Barbara's peace at her retreat on the Oregon coast is shattered when a terrified young boy leads her to a cabin in the woods where his battered mother has clearly been left for dead. Barbara runs for help, but by the time she returns both mother and son are gone.

The puzzle deepens when Barbara learns the boy she met is the grandson of a prominent family and they have accused her of aiding his disappearance.

With the help of her father, Frank, she delves into the mystery, only to realize the kidnapping is a ruse for a more sinister plan one that pits the meaning of family against cold hard cash.

Troubling o

When attorney Barbara Holloway takes a case, there's no middle ground: it's her rules, her way. Now, as she finds herself at the helm of a complex defence involving the murder of a man everybody loathed, all she needs is what she most lacks clear and convincing proof.

The Kelso/McIvey rehabilitation center is a place of hope and healing for its patients and for the dedicated volunteers who work there. For beautiful Annie McIvey in particular, it's a sanctuary from her cruel husband; and for directors Naomi and Greg Boardman it's the culmination of a lifelong dream. But it's a dream about to be destroyed by Annie's husband David

A brilliant surgeon, an implacable misogynist, a man whose ego rivals his skill with a scalpel, David McIvey plans to close the doors on the centre's good work and good people, replacing it with a state–of–the–art surgery with him at the helm.

So when David's body is discovered outside the clinic early one morning it's no surprise to anyone, especially Barbara Holloway, that somebody dared to stop him in cold blood

Now Barbara must use her razor–sharp instincts and take–no–prisoners attitude to defend the two members of the clinic about to stand trial for his murder. Annie McIvey and Darren Halvord are accused of having an affair and plotting to kill David but Barbara believes a more complex motive lies at the heart of the crime. In order to expose it, she is forced to explore the darkest hiding place – the soul beneath the skin.

With no strong evidence, attorney Barbara Holloway's legal instincts are all she has.

If they can't lead her to the truth, her client will die. But if she succeeds, her own life will be on the line. Controversial author and scholar David Etheridge is not the kind of company an aspiring politician wants to keep. But ambitious state senator Robert McCrutchen has a history with Etheridge--a history he's desperately trying to keep under wraps.

Twenty-two years ago, while attending the University of Oregon, both men were investigated in the death of a young coed, but the case was never solved. A circle of secrecy guaranteed it. But the old stories resurface when Etheridge returns to Eugene, Oregon. Tied to their past, McCrutchen is his grudging host--until the senator is found shot dead. Now Etheridge is back where he was more than two decades ago--suspected of murder.

Only this time, with the cold case reopened, he's facing a double charge. And Etheridge might not be so lucky again. Barbara must battle the prosecution and the court of public opinion, which has already tried and convicted Etheridge for both murders. As the pressure mounts, Barbara ties the past and present together, risking her own life to protect a client and preserve justice.

In dire need of a job, Todd Fielding accepts the offer to work at The Brindle Times––even if she has to move to the lackluster town of Brindle. As she settles into her new home, Todd is fully prepared to adapt to the boredom of small–town life, but her preconceptions of Brindle are completely shattered when a local girl disappears. Even more shocking to Todd is the town's sheer indifference to the incident. No one––not even the police––appears particularly concerned.

When Todd looks deeper into the story, she discovers that five other girls have \run away\" from Brindle under strange circumstances over the past twenty years. As she sets out to uncover the history of a town that has cloaked itself in secrecy for far too long, evidence of manipulation and cold–blooded murder begin to unravel. And Todd may be the next victim to pay the deadly price of silence.

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A stunning trail of deception, intrigue and suspense

A barbara holloway novel

When Louise Braniff discreetly hands Barbara Holloway a large retainer and asks for complete anonymity, the attorney is both intrigued and suspicious. The woman, a respected music professor, also spearheads a group that sponsors worthy causes. And the group wants Barbara to defend Carol Fredricks, a gifted young pianist who stands accused of murder. Barbara has heard Carol play, and that's enough to convince her to take the case. But now the questions are coming faster than the answers.

Carol's straightforward version of what happened the night piano bar manager Joe Wenzel was murdered clashes with the incriminating evidence against her. And how can Barbara explain the oddly incomplete picture she gets of the young woman herself? Carol has no memory of learning to play the piano, her recollections begin the day she woke up in hospital, aged eight, to learn that her parents were dead. And now she is having haunting nightmares about a woman named Carolyn Frye.

Soon Barbara is convinced that her client is not only innocent, but that she is being framed. However, proving the case and keeping her client safe will require every ounce of Barbara's notoriously fierce determination to get at the truth. And as she unravels the stunning trail of deception, hatred and remarkably deep and abiding love that holds the key to the mystery of Carol Fredricks, Barbara discovers that the unbidden truth may just damn them both.