From Publishers Weekly
Jacobs, author of two mysteries starring Kate Austen (Murder Among Neighbors and Murder Among Friends), inaugurates a series featuring San Francisco lawyer Kale O'Brien with a gritty tale that takes the heroine back to her roots. When Kale (aka Kali) returns to her small California hometown to attend her father's funeral and clean out his effects, she finds his dog preggers and herself, before long, in deep trouble. At a barbecue, she's approached by Eddie Marrero?high-school football coach, womanizer and the husband of Kali's former best friend, Jannine. Eddie wants some legal advice. Before they can meet privately, however, he's killed, and Jannine becomes the chief suspect. Jannine's mother asks Kali to look into the case, which is being investigated by an old fishing buddy of Kali's father. Kali learns that Eddie was trying to buy out his uncle's share of a local bar, and she wonders where he was planning to get the extra money to do so. As she questions Eddie's relatives, friends and acquaintances, the police case mounts against Jannine (Eddie had a mistress, and the handgun used to kill him belongs to Jannine). Jacobs spins a merely adequate mystery plot here, but she portrays Kali's return to her home?and the self-revelation the trip engenders?with a sure sense of character. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
San Francisco attorney Kali O'Brian returns to Silver Creek for her father's funeral. When long-time friend Jannine is accused of murdering her husband, O'Brian stays on to help. Oddly enough, Jannine's husband had just intimated to Kali that he might need a lawyer. To find answers, Kali digs up the dirt on her friends. Reservations about her job back home and about her lawyer boyfriend interfere, as does her father's pregnant spaniel. Although Jacobs uses a rather routine formula, this books should appeal to fans of Kate Austen.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Bay Area lawyer Kali O'Brien, back in her hometown of Silver Creek, Calif., to bury her father, finds skeletons (not his) leaping out of every closet. But, first, another death: Eddie Marrero, the high-school coach who, despite marriage and four daughters with Kali's old friend Jannine, isn't too occupied to make a brief pass at her and ask if he can consult her professionally the night before he gets shot with Jannine's own gun. The local police chief, an unimaginative soul--though he turns out to have unsuspected depths--can't be bothered looking any further than the widow, so Kali, agreeing to lend Jannine a hand, checks for witnesses to her alibi (none), hunts for the $10,000 Eddie must've had on hand in order to buy his sister Susie's share of the bar their late father had owned with his brother George (not a trace), and tries to implicate Uncle George in the murder (bingo). A missing babysitter will lead Kali to an extravagant series of adulterous revelations and a culprit as unsurprising as the new man waiting in the wings to win the heart she thinks she's left in San Francisco. Fans of Jacobs's two well-bred suburban California mysteries starring art consultant Kate Austen (Murder Among Friends, 1995, etc.) will be comforted to know that neither Kali nor Silver Creek is much of a stretch. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jonnie Jacobs delights fans with a brand new series featuring savvy San Francisco attorney Kali O'Brien. In Shadow Of Doubt, her father's death brings Kali back to her Sierra hometown...where she finds herself coping with past tragedy, present-day murder, career angst, and an expectant dog. Kali thought she'd left the town of Silver Creek far behind her, but coming home brings back painful memories and lots of unresolved questions. Finding procrastination the best medicine, she accepts an invitation to the home of her old high school friends Jannine and Eddie Marrero. When Eddie reveals that he may need a lawyer, she's surprised and somewhat intrigued. Before she can discover why, he's found dead. To Kali's dismay, all the evidence points to Jannine. But Kali is convinced that her friend is innocent...especially after several incriminating pictures turn up.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Jacobs, author of two mysteries starring Kate Austen (Murder Among Neighbors and Murder Among Friends), inaugurates a series featuring San Francisco lawyer Kale O'Brien with a gritty tale that takes the heroine back to her roots. When Kale (aka Kali) returns to her small California hometown to attend her father's funeral and clean out his effects, she finds his dog preggers and herself, before long, in deep trouble. At a barbecue, she's approached by Eddie Marrero-high-school football coach, womanizer and the husband of Kali's former best friend, Jannine. Eddie wants some legal advice. Before they can meet privately, however, he's killed, and Jannine becomes the chief suspect. Jannine's mother asks Kali to look into the case, which is being investigated by an old fishing buddy of Kali's father. Kali learns that Eddie was trying to buy out his uncle's share of a local bar, and she wonders where he was planning to get the extra money to do so. As she questions Eddie's relatives, friends and acquaintances, the police case mounts against Jannine (Eddie had a mistress, and the handgun used to kill him belongs to Jannine). Jacobs spins a merely adequate mystery plot here, but she portrays Kali's return to her home-and the self-revelation the trip engenders-with a sure sense of character. (Mar.)

Library Journal

San Francisco attorney Kali O'Brian returns to Silver Creek for her father's funeral. When long-time friend Jannine is accused of murdering her husband, O'Brian stays on to help. Oddly enough, Jannine's husband had just intimated to Kali that he might need a lawyer. To find answers, Kali digs up the dirt on her friends. Reservations about her job back home and about her lawyer boyfriend interfere, as does her father's pregnant spaniel. Although Jacobs uses a rather routine formula, this books should appeal to fans of Kate Austen.

Kirkus Reviews

Bay Area lawyer Kali O'Brien, back in her hometown of Silver Creek, Calif., to bury her father, finds skeletons (not his) leaping out of every closet. But, first, another death: Eddie Marrero, the high-school coach who, despite marriage and four daughters with Kali's old friend Jannine, isn't too occupied to make a brief pass at her and ask if he can consult her professionally the night before he gets shot with Jannine's own gun. The local police chief, an unimaginative soul—though he turns out to have unsuspected depths—can't be bothered looking any further than the widow, so Kali, agreeing to lend Jannine a hand, checks for witnesses to her alibi (none), hunts for the $10,000 Eddie must've had on hand in order to buy his sister Susie's share of the bar their late father had owned with his brother George (not a trace), and tries to implicate Uncle George in the murder (bingo). A missing babysitter will lead Kali to an extravagant series of adulterous revelations and a culprit as unsurprising as the new man waiting in the wings to win the heart she thinks she's left in San Francisco.

Fans of Jacobs's two well-bred suburban California mysteries starring art consultant Kate Austen (Murder Among Friends, 1995, etc.) will be comforted to know that neither Kali nor Silver Creek is much of a stretch.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Crisp and stylish. A strong debut. — John T. Lescroart

A charming new sleuth. Readers are in for a treat. — Margaret Maron