WITNESS FOR THE DEFENSE

Bay area attorney Kali O'Brien has her work cut out for her defending Terri, beautiful wife of former NFL star Ted Harper, on charges of killing hate-radio host Bram Weaver. Weaver was the one person who could have deprived the Harpers of their heart's desire—adopting Hannah, the infant daughter delivered by Melissa Burke, a college student only too willing to sign her parental rights over to the wealthy, stable couple—on the grounds that he's the baby's natural father. Kali can poke holes in the state's circumstantial evidence: the long blond hair and purple sunglasses found in Weaver's apartment, the nylon fibers and fleece snagged by bushes outside, even the testimony of a neighbor who saw Terri's blue Explorer the night of the murder. But District Attorney Ray Shalla's made it clear that he wants to make an example of rich, famous Terri. What Kali really needs to wave in front of the jury is an alternate suspect, someone like Dan, the teenaged son Weaver abandoned as a toddler. Or feminist Suzze Madden, on record as threatening Weaver. Or fellow chauvinists Hank Lomax, Len Roemer, and Clyde Billings, Weaver's partners in some shady dot.com deal. Desperate to free her client, Kali leans not only on her law clerk, Jared Takahashi-Jackson, and private investigator Nick Logan, but on Terri's half-brother, Dr. Steven Cross—who, as Kali's ex-lover, may be more a distraction than a help.

Jacobs (Motion to Dismiss, 1999, etc.) treats readers as not-too-bright jurors, dropping hints so blatantly that no one is likely to miss her ill-sprung surprise.