Barbara Holloway is retained by an older woman who insists on anonymity. She is paying for the defense of a young woman arrested for murder, and she says she represents a group of benefactors in the community.

The defendant is Carol Fredricks. She was a pianist at a local lounge attached to a motel, who was frequently bothered by one of the owners. The owner, Joe Wenzel, made unwelcome advances and she rebuffed him. When he was found dead in his motel room, witnesses said they'd seen someone who looked like Fredricks go into his room.

Barbara begins by listening to Carol and agrees with the client that she is unusually talented. She then speaks to Carol about her past, trying to discover some connection with Wenzel.

It is here that Barbara discovers something odd. Carol was a foster child most of her life. She tells Barbara that her parents were killed in a car accident when she was eight and there were no other relatives to take her. As she had been in the car with her parents, Carole was badly injured and spent a great deal of time in the hospital. She was taken from the hospital to her new foster parents, where she lived until she was old enough to leave home.

Carole can't remember anything from before she was eight. Different people have different explanations for this memory loss, ranging from some kind of mental block to her faking it. Barbara latches on the situation like a dog with a bone. She believes something in Carole's past will reveal some connection to the present.

Most of the book is devoted to sussing out the past, which does turn out to be surprising. It is only when the court case begins that we have much of an idea about how the defense will be handled. It appears that much is against her.

It's absorbing enough to keep reading, therefore a good airplane book. I had some doubts about Wilhelm's knowledge about some things, like about playing the piano. It's true that some people can play by ear remarkably well. But when the client in this case said Carole just needed a year with a special teacher to work on technique, and then she would be world-class, I had doubts. I am a pianist myself, classical, not world-class. I do know that although one might have the ability to play by ear, one doesn't develop the strength in one's fingers overnight.

Despite doubts of this type I enjoyed the story well enough. ( )

I was very disappointed in Wilhelm's attempt. Lawyer Barbara is jumping all over the place trying to tie in her client's forgotten past with the current charges against her. Two other attorney's time is tied up "assisting" her, but Barbara is the prima donna, making all decisions, even controlling her client's life. She ties it all up at the end, but it was fairly tedious to get to that point.
Then, of course, there is the usual attraction/repulsion/romance interest, which adds nothing to the story. ( )

Very Good

What if your only memories of your childhood were denied by your foster parents and your doctors? What if you roamed the country searching for something that you did not even know you were looking for? Now, what if you were accused of murder because you were the convenient stranger? And what if your being framed for murder was not random, but tied to the childhood memories that you had suppressed for decades?

Barbara Holloway is a criminal defense lawyer in Eugene, Oregon, hired by a mysterious benefactor to defend an itinerant cocktail lounge pianist. Unfortunately for Barbara, she also discovers that this woman is being targeted by a powerful local construction family with more than a few secrets. ( )

When Louise Braniff hands Barbara Holloway a large retainer and asks for complete anonymity, the Oregon attorney is both intrigued and suspicious. The woman, a respected music professor, is a member of a group that sponsors worthy causes involving women. And they want Barbara to defend Carol Fredricks, a gifted young pianist who stands accused of murdering the manager of a piano bar. Not long ago Barbara heard Carol play, and that is enough to convince her to take the case. But now the questions are coming faster than the answers. Carol's straightforward version of what happened the night Joe Wenzel was murdered clashes with the incriminating evidence against her. And how can Barbara explain the oddly incomplete picture she gets of the young woman herself? Carol can't remember a huge part of her past. Soon Barbara is convinced that her client is not only innocent but that she is being framed by ruthless foes who will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. However, proving the case and keeping her client safe will require every drop of Barbara's notoriously fierce determination to get at the truth. And as she unravels the stunning trail of deception, hatred, and remarkably deep abiding love that holds the key to the mystery of Carol Fredricks, Barbara discovers that the unbidden truth may just damn them both.