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Lia Matera

A San Francisco student’s about to discover law school can be murderous in this comic mystery series opener.

Willa Jansson picked the wrong time to quit smoking. Exams are four weeks away. And if she’s not sitting in class, studying, or sipping innumerable cups of coffee, then she’s toiling away as the senior articles editor at the Malhousie Law Review. This job, and being

in the top 10 percent of her class, means she’ll be able to land her dream job when she graduates. But at the moment, she has an even bigger problem to deal with …

After Malhousie’s editor in chief, super-student Susan Green, is found bludgeoned to death, strangers—curious reporters, angry professors, and high-profile lawyers—keep snooping around the office. Then another editor fights to take Susan’s position, only to meet the same grisly end. Willa knows she must find out quickly who’s killing her fellow students and why—because, as the new editor in chief, she could be next … 

Praise for the Willa Jansson Mysteries 

“Willa Jansson is one of the most articulate and surely the wittiest of women sleuths at large in the genre. ” —The New York Times Book Review

“Readers will be shaken by Matera’s rapier-sharp dissection of personal relationships and radical ideologies. Matera again demonstrates that she is one of today’s best mystery writers. ” —Publishers Weekly

MysteriousPress.com/Open Road

The Willa Jansson Mysteries

Where Lawyers Fear to Tread

A New York Times Notable Book: Sour parents, a sleazy ex, ’70s radicalism, and murder spoil a California lawyer’s homecoming in this mystery by the author of Hidden Agenda.

Working in the LA office of a Wall Street law firm, attorney Willa Jansson was drowning in bankruptcy codes and mourning the loss of her love life. But now, after almost a year in that purgatory of dull men in thousand-dollar suits, she’s landed a new position clerking for a federal judge back in her hometown of San Francisco.

Driving up the coast, Willa should feel happy about her chance for a fresh start—except her hippie mother’s still upset with her for becoming a corporate sellout, her despicable ex needs her to do a favor for his new girlfriend, and her new boss is getting hate mail about her. Plus, she’s not even sure she wants to be a lawyer anymore.

But when a murderer strikes, Willa is forced to set aside her self-reflection and dig into the victim’s past, one full of lies, betrayal, and a few people holding grudges worth killing for …

Praise for the Willa Jansson Mysteries

“One of the most articulate and surely the wittiest of women sleuths at large in the genre. ” —The New York Times Book Review

“Almost every paragraph is eminently quotable. ” —The Plain Dealer

“Blessed with pungent prose, an affecting, funny, realistic heroine/detective and pressing moral and emotional issues. ” —San Francisco Chronicle

Prior Convictions

A California lawyer’s dream job becomes a nightmare when her boss is murdered in this mystery by the author of Where Lawyers Fear to Tread.

Fresh out of law school, Willa Jansson nabs a first-year associate position at a family friend’s law firm. Famous progressive attorney Julian Warneke has gotten Willa’s hippie parents out of legal trouble on several occasions, though his reputation for grandstanding landed Willa in jail for two traumatic months after she was arrested during a protest march. Regardless, she’s happy to be working for such an influential firm, even if it pays less than any other outfit in town and she’s assigned to all the divorces, landlord-tenant cases, and drunk-driving defenses …

Willa’s caseload is the least of her worries when Julian’s poisoned to death at a fancy work lunch. When the investigation begins, the authorities are drawn to Willa as a suspect in the “law school murders. ” Then there’s the matter of her mother being listed to inherit Julian’s house. As Willa begins working to clear their names, she must dodge a terrible ex-boyfriend and a charming cop—not to mention a killer who’s drawing ever closer …

Praise for the Willa Jansson Mysteries 

“Matera's wit, grace with language, irreverence toward the legal system, and wry dissection of being a child of the Sixties make this a standout. ” —Kirkus Reviews

“Intelligent and entertaining … Absorbing … With sharp descriptions and crisp dialogue … Admirably delivers the complex situations and memorable characters of a ‘real novel’ while still managing to let the detective story have its day in court. ” —The Wall Street Journal

A Radical Departure

A San Francisco attorney lands a great new job—and is framed for a gruesome murder—in this mystery by the author of A Radical Departure.

After her boss at their radical law firm is murdered, Willa Jansson is desperate for a new job. But when a conservative corporate firm offers her a position out of the blue, she’s a little hesitant to accept, considering the recommendation comes from a high-profile Republican named Bud Hopper whom Willa’s never heard of. Then she learns her salary will be well over three times what she’s currently earning, and she can hardly say no—even if her hippie parents disapprove.

The elusive Hopper, meanwhile, doesn’t stop pulling strings for Willa, securing her an invite to a swanky weekend retreat with her new firm’s top partners and clients—and a big surprise awaiting her in her room. When her new boss is murdered in the exact same manner as her old one, Willa can no longer ignore her suspicions about her mysterious benefactor. Everything’s been too good to be true, and now Hopper has framed her. Of course, it’s going to be difficult to apprehend a man no one seems to have met …

Praise for the Willa Jansson Mysteries 

“Willa Jansson is one of the most articulate and surely the wittiest of women sleuths at large in the genre. ” —The New York Times Book Review

“Readers will be shaken by Matera’s rapier-sharp dissection of personal relationships and radical ideologies. Matera again demonstrates that she is one of today’s best mystery writers. ” —Publishers Weekly

Hidden Agenda

Helping a family friend who’s been framed for murder has a San Francisco lawyer living like a fugitive in this mystery by the author of Prior Convictions.

Attorney Willa Jansson’s found a new position in the growing field of multimedia law—it’s the ’90s, after all. Given her track record, she’s hoping this job will be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, during her morning commute through the Financial District, she sees a friend of her mother’s—mythologist and pacifist Arthur Kenna—about to be arrested for holding a stranger at gunpoint. Willa does the first thing she can think of to save him: she pretends to be Arthur’s hostage.

Arthur explains that it was the alleged victim who’d placed the gun in his hand, but Willa knows the police won’t buy that—especially after Arthur’s assistant is found dead. Forced to hide out in a Boulder Creek mountain cabin belonging to an old flame of Willa’s, the fugitive duo soon realizes their only way out of the woods is to locate the real killer. Doing so means digging into Arthur’s assistant’s past, and divining the truth in a community of high-tech gurus, strange survivalists, a cybernetic shaman, and a nudist who thinks he’s the demigod Pan …

“Effectively blending the seemingly incongruous elements of high-tech computing and ancient mythology, Matera has produced a first-rate mystery, exhibiting her usual hallmarks of excellent plotting, solid characterizations, and brisk pacing. ” —Booklist

“Few writers possess Lia Matera’s wry humor, especially when it comes to putting down lawyers, or her eye for Northern California fauna. ” —San Jose Mercury News

Last Chants

A plucky lawyer’s out of her element when she investigates a suspicious death that’s out of this world in this mystery by the author of Last Chants.

Overworked San Francisco attorney Willa Jansson’s ready to go on her three-week vacation and relax on the beach in Mexico. But before she can leave the office, she gets a phone call from a friend whom she owes a favor …

Willa heads to Santa Cruz to take on what at first sounds like a vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run case. Alan Miller’s Fiat fell on top of Francis Addenaur’s Buick in a field of Brussels sprouts. The problem is the Fiat left no tracks in the field and Miller wasn’t in his car. He says he was abducted by aliens

As Willa begins examining crop circles and subpoenaing UFO experts, she realizes this case could ruin her career. But with an angry widow packing heat and mysterious black helicopters circling the sky, discovering the truth feels like a matter of life or death …

“Matera’s latest mystery is a hoot. It will drive the Pentagon non-UFO believers crazy and probably end up being the inspiration for an X-Files episode… . This fast-moving tale is peppered with eccentric characters, snappy dialogue and a creative plot. ” —San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

“Matera has proved more than once that she is the master when it comes to dabbling in Northern California flakiness for her mystery plots. This time she focuses on alien abduction… . Matera cleverly walks the line here between milking the material for humor and taking it all too seriously… . Mystery fans can’t fail to be entertained. ” —San Jose Mercury News

Star Witness

A California lawyer finds herself on the trail of a murderer while searching for her missing mother in Cuba in the final entry of this mystery series.

Attorney Willa Jansson’s mother is a lifelong activist. So it’s no surprise when she and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom disregard federal regulations and head to Cuba for a goodwill tour. The real shock occurs when the group returns … with one less member.

Worried about her mother facing a lengthy prison sentence or a hefty fine, Willa springs to the rescue, jetting off to Havana, where nothing’s as it seems. There, she befriends two suspiciously helpful reporters and follows leads from fancy hotels to dark, underground tunnels, finding ample danger along the way. Soon, both the American and Cuban governments get involved—as does Willa’s handsome ex, Lt. Don Surgelato of the San Francisco Police Department.

But things really heat up when Willa’s efforts get her mixed up in a murder. Now she must track down her mom, get home safely, and stay one step ahead of a killer. Willa’s bailed her mother out before, but never like this …

“With its page-turning plot, self-realized setting, and terrific characters, one could fairly call this the best Jansson adventure yet—and that’s saying a great deal. ” —Booklist

“The beauty of Matera’s writing is that the story, fun as it is, doesn’t shortcut a shrewd social commentary on the current state of the Cuban Revolution and U. S. policy toward that country. ” —Houston Chronicle