Designer Crimes: A Laura Di Palma Mystery - Softcover

They say that living well is the best revenge. But attorney Laura Di Palma may not have the opportunity to find out. Her former boss keeps trying to torpedo her new solo law practice, and when his slanders cost Laura her most important client, this lawyer decides to sue. But her case hasn't even begun when labor lawyer Jocelyn Kinsley is shot before her eyes. Uttering the dying words "designer crimes," Kinsley offers Di Palma the only clue to her slaying. With the help of private detective Sandy Arkelett, Laura's friend and former lover, she goes to work untangling Kinsley's cryptic words. Meanwhile, she's also defending a high school friend accused of a grisly murder, and trouble follows closely at her heels -- before long she is shot at, nearly blown up, and even arrested.

Living well just may be the best revenge, but survival becomes Laura's first order of business. Unfortunately, her detours off the high road could cost her more than just her career....

Lia Matera is a graduate of Hastings College of the Law, where she was editor in chief of the "Constitutional Law Quarterly". She was also a Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School before becoming a full-time writer of legal mysteries. "Prior Convictions" and "A Radical Departure" were nominated for Edgar Allan Poe awards. "The Good Fight" and "Where Lawyers Fear to Tread" were nominated for Anthony and Macavity Awards. She has written nine novels, including the critically acclaimed "Face Value". Matera lives in Santa Cruz, California.