The Next Victim » (Reprint)

Jonnie Jacobs is the author of twelve suspense novels including The Only Suspect, Intent to Harm, Cold Justice, Witness for the Defense, Motion to Dismiss, Evidence of Guilt, and Shadow of Doubt. A former practicing attorney, she lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A BRUTAL DOUBLE MURDER.

When wealthy heiress Sloane Winslow is found murdered in her house along with the body of pretty college coed Olivia Perez, the evidence all points to one suspect, John O'Brien-San Francisco defense attorney Kali O'Brien's brother. The last time Kali spoke to John, he was desperate to tell her something but too drunk to get it out. Now, he's dead, an apparent suicide by overdose.

A MYSTERIOUS PHOTO.

Although Kali wasn't close to her brother, she can't believe he was capable of murder. But when she finds a clue hidden in his dictionary-a photo of three attractive young women, one of whom is the slain Olivia Perez, she realizes her brother had many secrets. And when one of the other women in the photo-a stripper and porn actress- is found brutally murdered in a ditch, Kali wonders if her brother really did commit suicide.

A KILLER WHO'S ONLY JUST BEGUN.

As Kali digs deeper for the truth, her search plunges her deep into the sex industry's hidden underworld. Now her only hope for solving the case lies in finding the last girl in the picture, a witness who knows far more than she should, maybe too much to live-and Kali has to get to her before she becomes the next victim.

Publishers Weekly

In Jacob's smart seventh Kali O'Brien legal thriller (after Intent to Harm), the San Francisco DA faces two horrifying possibilities: Did her brother, John, kill himself in remorse over murdering ex-girlfriend Sloane Winslow and her young housekeeper, Olivia Perez, or was John murdered by their real killer? After receiving the shocking call about her brother's "accident," grieving Kali heads for Tucson, Ariz., to meet with her sister, Sabrina, to settle John's estate under a cloud of confusion about a brother she rarely communicated with. After the sisters discover their brother was the prime suspect in the double homicide and his estate the subject of a wrongful death civil suit, Kali is shocked to find John might also be connected to a young stripper's murder and the disappearance of a 16-year-old runaway. Jacobs deftly juggles a large cast and a multilayered plot while compassionately depicting Kali's struggle with family issues. (Feb.)