Death Qualified

Barbara Holloway stars as the defense attorney in this mysterious case. Barbara is defending Nell Kendricks, who has been accused of killing her husband. Her husband, Luke, had walked away seven years before with no explanation and no contact since. He arrived back on the scene when Nell was out on a high spot in the woods that was a favorite of hers. Luke showed up on a ledge, happy, saying "watch this!". Then he is shot.

It appears to the prosecution (and others) that the only person who could have killed him was Nell. Her gun was used. She says she did not have it with her but who can vouch for her? Nobody.

Barbara believes her in spite of the mounting evidence. Barb's father is a little more skeptical but knows that Nell needs the show more best defense and he is no longer able to provide that.

Through twists and turns and a trial that shows Barb to her best advantage, we are kept on the edges of our seats. Did Nell actually do it? What other explanation is there? We learn that Luke had been essentially kept prisoner through psychological and drug management, but that he had found his way out, or might have. He might in fact have been suffering from a mental illness. Naturally, Barbara has to investigate what was going on in this odd research project that involved Luke.

I rather like that the book is long and convoluted. It gave me time to think about the characters and possibilities. What I didn't care for is what I felt was an edge of paranormal. Science fiction, maybe. Others prefer this type writing, and I hope one of them gets this book next. show less

Lucas Kendricks disappeared 7 years ago. Suddenly he's back after escaping a nightmare where he was "Tom" where he hadn't remembered his family in Oregon but before he has a chance to start his life over, he's dead and his wife is charged with his murder.
Barbara Holloway is in Arizona trying to live the simple life when she receives a phone call from her father and is dragged back into the legal world that she had left 5 years before in disgust, unable to agree with the bargains and compromises of defenders and prosecutors.
This book starts off in chaos and only seems to come together when the courtroom drama begins. There is way too much emphasis on the "chaos theory and psychological research" than a normal reader would want to know. show more This diversion encompasses most of the book but doesn't stop the reader from foretelling the conclusion. There are a few events at the end that re somewhat predictable.
The courtroom portion of the book was excellent, but the beginning and end left something to be desired. show less

I thought I'd enjoy this one more than I did, but it steered too close to sci-fi for me. I suppose every novel is in some sense a sci-fi or fantasy (there never was a Mr. Darcy, after all) but rather than positing "what if so-and-so killed so-and-so" (the typical mystery postulation) it ventured much, much further into sci-fi territory, creating an uncomfortable (for me) amalgam.

For some reason when thrillers do this (e.g. Crichton) it seems perfectly reasonable, if MacGuffin-ish, but when tossed into a legal mystery it seemed very out of place. (Eventually it steered into suspense thriller territory too, but too late to make everything seem all right again--if anything, it was just one more element too many, in an already long book).

I show more suspect the sci-fi elements are what interested the author, and the mystery is a vessel for containing them. She may be pleased, but it didn't work for me.

(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. There are a lot of 4s and 3s in the world!) show less

If you’re expecting the standard Barbara Holloway legal thriller, this ain’t it. Kate Wilhelm adds an element of sci fi to this courtroom tale.

The title, “Death Qualified,” means an attorney who, based on experience, is qualified to represent a defendant in a capital crime case. As we know, Barbara is imminently qualified to represent all types of clients and is “death qualified.”

The sci fi element involves math, theories of chaos, fractals, and the Mandelbrot set. The problem is that the premise upon which it is based (can’t reveal this) is ridiculous, rendering the whole novel unbelievable.

I find the lack of credibility in “Death Qualified” to be very unexpected and unusual in the Holloway series. Sure, we’re show more used to Barbara never being happy, at least not for long, and suffering crises of ethics and moral dilemmas. But, she has always been a quite reasonable, solid character. Here, her actions, as well as the premise of the novel, also lack credibility. She met, fell in love with, and went to bed with a guy all in a matter of hours. Whoa, that’s not the Barbara Holloway I know!

In sum, expect the unexpected in this mathematical, legal Barbara Holloway thriller. show less

I like Kate Wilhelm's mysteries. Her characters are so real as to make me want to find the next book right away. The mysterious project that is a focal point of this book was never described very well. I'm not sure what the scientists were striving to achieve or what powers were obtained by those that were able to make progress with "the discs" other than "they laughed". Kind of a cliffhanger of an ending. I'm not sure it will be resolved in the next book, but I'm ready to find out.

Nell Kendricks is accused of murdering her estranged husband. Lawyer, Barbara Holloway is visiting her father and trying to get her own life in order but ends up taking on Nell's legal defense. Along the twisted path to justice we meet interesting characters and get some insight to Choas Theory. Good read, but it didn't make me want to run out and pick up another in the series.

This was my first book by Wilhelm. I was looking for her early SF books but decided to try one of her Thriller/Mystery/Court-Room-Drama books. Though she started in the SF pulps her real claim to fame is in this genera. She wrote many of these with great success and won several awards.

The book is good and is the first, of more then a dozen, featuring the same protagonist. Like many female authors she is writing for women. This can be negative for many male readers unless the writing is good. I think the book is well written. I enjoy a good court room drama but this story was a bit lame. Reading reviews of her later works assure me she only got better with time.