Kirkus Reviews calls A Hard Bargain "a welcome respite from the mystery-by-formula crowd," and the Chicago Tribune says, "The nerves of everyone involved are strung so tight that you wait tensely for the breaking twang."
Karen McGuin survived her first grisly suicide attempt. Then her husband started putting a loaded gun in front of her every day—to urge her to choose life, he said. But Karen pulled the trigger instead, and now her family wants him arrested for murder. When they hire a San Francisco law firm to make the case to their small-town D.A., detective Sandy Arkelett treks ...
Kirkus Reviews calls A Hard Bargain "a welcome respite from the mystery-by-formula crowd," and the Chicago Tribune says, "The nerves of everyone involved are strung so tight that you wait tensely for the breaking twang."
Karen McGuin survived her first grisly suicide attempt. Then her husband started putting a loaded gun in front of her every day—to urge her to choose life, he said. But Karen pulled the trigger instead, and now her family wants him arrested for murder. When they hire a San Francisco law firm to make the case to their small-town D.A., detective Sandy Arkelett treks north to investigate. But what he really wants is to lure his one-time partner, lawyer Laura Di Palma, back to the city.
Months ago, Laura was fired from the firm. She's been holed up in a backwoods cabin ever since, helping her reclusive lover get over an old injury. But his psychic wounds are a bigger challenge. And the more Laura learns about the McGuins, the more she fears she's made the same hard bargain. With families clashing and relationships crumbling, Laura and Sandy are on an emotional powder keg. And the explosion could prove fatal.
Publishers Weekly says A Hard Bargain "skillfully weaves Laura's dissatisfaction with her own circumstances into the investigation of Karen's death, taking a thought-provoking look at the dangers in relationships that grow too close."
A Hard Bargain skillfully weaves Laura's dissatisfaction with her own circumstances into the investigation of Karen's death, taking a thought-provoking look at the dangers in relationships that grow too close.
Winston-Salem Journal
With plenty of action and mystery, this is sensitive, thought-provoking writing.
Product Details
BN ID: 2940013829763
Publisher: Lia Matera
Publication date: 12/10/2011
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Sales rank: 439,228
File size: 1 MB
Meet the Author
Lia Matera is the author of twelve novels, ten short stories, and a novella. She is a graduate of Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, where she was editor-in-chief of the Constitutional Law Quarterly. She is a member of the California Bar and was a Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School before becoming a full-time writer.
Two of her novels were nominated for the mystery genre's top prize, the Edgar Allan Poe Award. Three were nominated for the Anthony Award, and two were nominated for the Macavity Award. She has also published two anthologies. Her story, "Dead Drunk," originally printed in Scott Turow's, Guilty As Charged, won the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award for Best Short Story of 1996. Her historical novella, Champawat, will appear in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
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Overview
Kirkus Reviews calls A Hard Bargain "a welcome respite from the mystery-by-formula crowd," and the Chicago Tribune says, "The nerves of everyone involved are strung so tight that you wait tensely for the breaking twang."Karen McGuin survived her first grisly suicide attempt. Then her husband started putting a loaded gun in front of her every day—to urge her to choose life, he said. But Karen pulled the trigger instead, and now her family wants him arrested for murder. When they hire a San Francisco law firm to make the case to their small-town D.A., detective Sandy Arkelett treks ...