Plot or Premise

Willa Jansson is the senior articles editor for a law school review when her editor-in-chief gets killed. She wants to know who did it, even more so after a couple more get bumped off.

What I Liked

The law school aspect is well-done, perhaps reflective of the fact that the author actually attended a law school, a nice change from some of the legal authors today. The story zips along at a good pace, and is enjoyable, once you get past the five-too-many characters / suspects and the obligatory “oops, I’ve written 50 pages and haven’t killed anybody else off in order to sustain the suspense” technique.

What I Didn’t Like

The problem with the book is that there are too many pieces, and they all get equal weight: Willa’s relationships with the various men running through the story (she’s the protagonist but all you do sometimes is feel sorry for her), all of the various suspects (pretty much everyone), and a host of motives ranging from being petty to outright greed to the green-eyed monster of justified jealousy. The character development is mediocre, including some peripheral characters that wind up being key ingredients, and some main characters that turn out to be a complete waste of paper. Ironic that the protag is an editor because that is what this book really needed.

The Bottom Line

Zips along at a good pace.