K. K. Beck

When Calvin Mason, the lawyer Jane da Silva met in an earlier case, tells Jane about a possible “hopeless case” that she might pursue, he doesn’t think she will really follow through on it: after all, the case concerns a man convicted of the murder of a pharmacist’s wife - and Calvin, the man’s defense lawyer, is convinced of his guilt. But a juror on the case has come to him with a detail that has troubled her since the conviction, a scene-of-crime photograph that seems to suggest show more that there may have been a witness to the crime. When she learns that tracking down the witness involves traveling up to Vancouver Island, Jane is quite happy to go, but it seems that she is not the only person looking for the girl…. This is the second of four novels featuring Jane da Silva, a 37-year-old widow who will come into a fortune if she can fulfill the requirements of her uncle’s will and solve a seemingly hopeless case of injustice. I very much like Jane, although she’s a bit whiny here off and on, and I like the relationship between her and Calvin, although that seems to be going nowhere fast. Set in the 1990s, it’s a bit dated by now (I doubt that young people today even have a concept of public pay phones, the importance of which looms large in this story), but still entertaining; recommended. show less

Iris Cooper is traveling with her Aunt Hermione to Hawaii, where a fellow Stanford student lives. Antoinette is about to marry, but her family doesn’t know it yet, and Antoinette is worried that her fiance might change his mind if he discovers her secret: her mother, who died when she was very young, had apparently served time in prison! And now, she has received a letter purported to be from her mother, who says Antoinette’s grandparents (who raised her) lied about her death. She asks show more Iris to look into the matter, discreetly of course, but nothing is as it seems and soon Iris is running into one dead body after another - good thing newsman Jack Clancy has shown up too!... This is the third and last of the Iris Cooper books, and like the two before it, the 1920s setting, interesting mix of somewhat exotic locale and eccentric characters all serve to make it a delight; Iris herself is a great “plucky girl” type and the will-they/won’t-they relationship between Iris and Jack is deftly handled. Each of these books can be read in a day, so give them a go! Recommended. show less

Jane da Silva is back to singing in hotel bars, just scraping by while she looks for a new case to investigate. While singing at a social gathering of international fish marketers, she notes a tartily dressed couple of women whom she assumes are hookers. But when one of those women is subsequently found dead in a hotel room, she realizes that she has found her new case - one that will take her to Norway, to the Shetland Islands, and back home to Seattle where it all began…. This is the show more last Jane da Silva book and, to my mind, the least of them too. Jane is almost the only character in it from the previous books - no lovely Samoan bodyguard, no lawyer Calvin Mason; the apple orchard/singer Jack from the previous book is peripherally noted, but barely seen at all. In addition, the secondary characters are more or less stereotypes - the phlegmatic Swiss investigator, the proudly independent Shetlander (don’t call him Scots!) and so on. Even the whole concept of the series, that Jane is to find “hopeless” cases to solve in order to receive a large inheritance from her late uncle, is given short shrift here, as if the author herself was bored with the whole thing. For completists only, sadly. show less

I bought this from a second-hand shop, and when I got it home I realised it had been wrongly shelved andshould have been in the teens section. It's a long time since my teens, but I read it anyway. What a happy accident it turned out to be, because this was an absolutely terrific read - not a dull moment from start to finish.

The deception on which the plot hinged depended to a certain extent on people not catching on as quickly as they would have done in real life. I also suspect aspects of show more the legal system were simplified to facilitate the plot. Some suspension of disbelief was needed. But as a novel for teens this is surely fine. Not only did the author keep the tightest of grips on who knew what, she also had a great way of depicting grumpy teens, and the problems of growing up when you're desperate to be cool.

A great read for teens. Even a great read for fortysomething-year old me. show less