Lia Matera: Hidden Agenda (USA 2021)

From the Publisher:
A San Francisco attorney lands a great new job -- and is framed for a gruesome murder -- in this mystery by the author of A Radical Departure.

After her boss at their radical law firm is murdered, Willa Jansson is desperate for a new job. But when a conservative corporate firm offers her a position out of the blue, she's a little hesitant to accept, considering the recommendation comes from a high-profile Republican named Bud Hopper whom Willa's never heard of. Then she learns her salary will be well over three times what she's currently earning, and she can hardly say no -- even if her hippie parents disapprove.

The elusive Hopper, meanwhile, doesn't stop pulling strings for Willa, securing her an invite to a swanky weekend retreat with her new firm's top partners and clients -- and a big surprise awaiting her in her room. When her new boss is murdered in the exact same manner as her old one, Willa can no longer ignore her suspicions about her mysterious benefactor. Everything's been too good to be true, and now Hopper has framed her. Of course, it's going to be difficult to apprehend a man no one seems to have met...

Praise for the Willa Jansson Mysteries
"Willa Jansson is one of the most articulate and surely the wittiest of women sleuths at large in the genre." -- The New York Times Book Review
"Readers will be shaken by Matera's rapier-sharp dissection of personal relationships and radical ideologies. Matera again demonstrates that she is one of today's best mystery writers." -- Publishers Weekly

Lia Matera: Hidden Agenda. A Willa Jansson Mystery. Mysterious Press / Open Road Media, ISBN: 9781504066662 (June, 2021), eBook, 2651 KB (ca. 184 p.), $7.99.

Lia Matera: Hidden Agenda (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
SUDDEN STOP ON THE FAST TRACK
Willa Jansson has always thought of herself as a right-thinking left-wing lawyer. But when her radical San Francisco law firm closes after the murder of its chief rabble-rouser, she does the next worst thing and takes a job as a high-priced corporate attorney. Willa has misgivings almost immediately, as she realizes all is not calm behind the firm's stately oak doors. After all, she's been around danger before, and she can smell murder in the air.

Sure enough, two partners are killed. Unfortunately, the popular misconception is that the storm is blowing in from her direction. Hassled now by the police, her parents, and office politics of the murdering kind, Willa is forced to play hardball with the big boys, before the third strike is called on her...

Lia Matera: Hidden Agenda. Willa's new job is a setup -- and someone wants to knock her down... A Willa Jansson Mystery. Ballantine Books, ISBN: 0345371283 (March, 1992), 184 p., $4.99.

Lia Matera: Hidden Agenda (USA 1988)

From the Publisher:
SECRET ADMIRER
Bud Hopper is a kingpin of the Republican administration. So, why is he helping young leftist attorney Willa Jansson get a tabulous new job with a fat-cat law firm? Why is Hopper getting Willa invited to the law partners' exclusive annual retreat in the Sierra Mountains? And why hasn't Willa-or anyone she knows-ever set eyes on her Tory godfather?

When murder strikes in a chillingly familiar way, Willa realizes she hasn't just sold out-she's been set up. And someone's political agenda has her tagged as the next victim.

"What a refreshing young sleuth!... Characters keep me Willa Jansson is a pleasure to meet, and her wryly humorous view of contemporary society makes for extremely entertaining reading." -- Marcia Muller, author of Tree of Death

Lia Matera: Hidden Agenda. Willa's new job is a setup -- and someone wants to knock her down... A Willa Jansson Mystery. Ballantine Books, ISBN: 0553277219 (November, 1988), 184 p., $3.50.