The Good Fight

Laura DiPalma #2

by Lia Matera

Attorney Laura Di Palma is in complete control of her high-profile life -- she's about to become a partner, signed lithographs decorate the walls of her spectacular San Francisco apartment, and her Mercedes is paid for. But control turns to utter chaos when her sick lover, Hal, disappears from his hospital bed without a word. Then Sandy, the detective she works with (and her former lover), begins pressuring her for a second chance. At work, she has a radical client who's accused of murdering an FBI agent. It's too much to handle, but Laura has no choice.
Frantically searching for Hal, Laura also attempts to build her client's controversial defense. Meanwhile, she must keep Sandy at a distance even as she needs his help. When a second man is murdered, Laura's carefully tailored life begins to unravel before her eyes . . . .
"Ms. Matera proves a tough-minded writer." -- The New York Times Book Review
"Extraordinary, thought-provoking." -- Baltimore Sun

Genres: Mystery

217 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1990

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Cynnamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

English version below

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Ein amerikanischer Krimi, der ganz intensiv den Vibe der 90er verbreitet.

Eine Strafverteidigerin hat einen körperbehinderten, pazifistischen Mandanten, der einen FBI-Agenten erschossen haben soll, der seine Friedensorganisation ausspioniert hat. Gleichzeitig macht sie sich extreme Sorgen um ihren psychisch kranken Mann, der aus der Psychiatrie abgehauen ist.

Ich fand die Geschichte wirklich spannend und gut erzählt.
Allerdings gibt es Punktabzug für den ein wenig merkwürdigen Schluss und die mehr als eigenartige Beziehung der Protagonistin zu ihrem Mann und ihrem Ex-Freund.

Die US-amerikanischen Behörden, ganz besonders das FBI kommen in diesem Buch ausgesprochen schlecht weg, wie ich allerdings vermute mit vollem Recht.

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An American crime thriller that intensely gives off the vibe of the 90s.

A female defence lawyer has a physically disabled, pacifist client who is alleged to have shot an FBI agent who was spying on his peace organisation. At the same time she is extremely worried about her mentally ill husband who has run away from the psychiatric hospital.

I found the story really exciting and well told.
However, there is a point deduction for the somewhat strange ending and the more than strange relationship of the protagonist to her husband and her ex-boyfriend.

The US authorities, especially the FBI, come off very badly in this book, but I suspect rightly so.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second in a mystery series with a lawyer (for a mid-size rich firm) named Laura di Palma, and the first that I’ve read.

There were things I liked about it and things I didn’t. I had difficulty getting a sense of her character, and I had no clue what had caused her to change over the years or why she hangs out with the guys she does—I would have loved to have booted her former boyfriend completely out of my life.

On the other hand, the mystery was neat; after it was solved I could go back in my mind and see clues I’d missed. I also liked the fact that the reader knew what happened to Hal, at the end, but Laura did not.

2020 note: with a few exceptions, I am not a fan of lawyer mysteries.

[Sketchycat8 · Rating 1 out of 5]

omg.. this was a very disappointing read. No character development. I read over 50 pages before I was hoping someone would kill the protagonist.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book. the boy friend thing is weird. she is good for more books, just not right now

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Good Fight by Lia Matera is the second book of the Laura Di Palma mystery series set in the late 20th-century Bay Area. Laura Di Palma is a successful young defense attorney about to make partner in a prestigious legal firm. After rocketing to fame defending mass murderers and political criminals, she lives a fast-paced life of conspicuous luxury. In a short span of days, all that changes. When her lover Hal goes missing from the hospital, she cannot focus on her client Dan Crosetti, who is accused of murdering an FBI agent. Laura agreed to defend Dan on moral principle rather than the expectation of a big payout (years ago Dan lost his legs during a non-violent protest). Still trying to find Hal, now suspected of murder, Laura relies heavily on her investigator (and former lover) Sandy, who has his own agenda.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 2 out of 5]

A water damaged thrift store purchase this time. The premise--former radical now an upwardly lawyer drawn back into things by her missing husband--intrigued me. The mystery was okay, but it was less political than I hoped. Author's don't have to be overt or parade garish stereotypes about radicals, it would just be nice to have anti-establishment views taken seriously and not as something one gives up when you grow up, oh but doing some charity is cool.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can you give a book a negative rating?