Kate Wilhelm has been writing books since 1962 and is best known for her award-winning science fiction novels and short stories. In 1987 she launched a mystery series with a married detective duo named Constance and Charlie. Constance is a psychologist and Charlie is a former arson investigator. The series ends in 1999 after eight books.
Another series begins in 1991, when attorney Barbara Holloway decides to return to Eugene, Oregon. Her father, Frank, convinces her to help him with a case and defend Nell Kendricks, a woman accused of killing her husband. Barbara has to deal with her old boyfriend Tony of hers, the prosecutor and her frustration with the failings of the judicial system. Barbara believes that the entire defense is based on the experimental work Nell’s husband was involved in during his six-year absence. That work has to do with chaos theory and the fantastic part of the story.
I’m not a fan of fantasy, and I wasn’t sure where the book was going at times. The fantasy part seemed incongruous with the legal narrative. What held things together for me was the romance between Barbara, the main character, and a mathematician, Mike Denesen, whom she consults to help understand Nell’s husband’s work. There’s a rush at the end to solve the murder, but it left me a little unsatisfied.
I may try another book in the series, as the chaos theory elements of the first book may be what made me uneasy. It was a turning of the page, and I liked the psychological intricacies of the characters and the detailed sense of place. The researcher Barbara and Frank use promises to be an interesting character. He just wasn’t excited enough to make the second book a priority. Those who like a bit of fantasy and appreciate that escaping from reality is what reading is all about, may be more drawn to the series.