Kathleen Shannon, better known as Kit, reluctantly agrees to represent police officer Edward Hanratty who is being charged with murder. She's a lawyer in a day and age when not many women were lawyers and she's a criminal lawyer to boot.
Kit and her faithful friend, Corazon, investigate the murder of Jay Chausser. The most frustrating part is that the DA or someone had purposefully warned all the witnesses or potential witnesses away. No one will talk to them. Eventually, Corazon manages to track down one maid that will help her. Still, things don't look good for Kit's client. Meanwhile, Kit's own life has turmoil. Elinor Wynn is suing her for the loss of Theodore Fox's affections, as they were engaged to be married before Kit showed up. Kit tries to show the court that there's no way this ridiculous case can stand but she's only saved by the appearance of Ted Fox himself. With Ted back in her life, Kit's having a hard time concentrating on her case. While the evidence seems to say her client's guilty dead-to-rights, her heart and gut tell her he's being set up. To make matters more stressful, Kit's dear Aunt Freddy is sick and dying and being manipulated maliciously by Professor Stillwater, a charlatan who's gained the elderly woman's trust. After an inner struggle, Ted comes to his senses and helps Kit out immensely. With the help of his friend, Gus, Ted gets Stillwater away from Aunt Freddy so Kit can have a few moment's of peaceful visitation with Aunt Freddy in the hospital. In the end, Kit frees her client and pieces together the murder of Jay Chausser through a series of carefully researched and carefully timed witnesses of her own. These include the maid Corazon dug up and a painter who did recent work at the hotel and even a few of the prosecution's star witnesses, including Mrs. Edna Chausser herself. | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 40% Murder of certain profession? Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 30 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - power The antagonists are: - lawyer creatures How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - California Misc setting - resort/hotel Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |