Lia Matera: Last Chants (USA 2021)

From the Publisher:
Helping a family friend who's been framed for murder has a San Francisco lawyer living like a fugitive in this mystery by the author of Prior Convictions.

Attorney Willa Jansson's found a new position in the growing field of multimedia law -- it's the '90s, after all. Given her track record, she's hoping this job will be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, during her morning commute through the Financial District, she sees a friend of her mother's -- mythologist and pacifist Arthur Kenna -- about to be arrested for holding a stranger at gunpoint. Willa does the first thing she can think of to save him: she pretends to be Arthur's hostage.

Arthur explains that it was the alleged victim who'd placed the gun in his hand, but Willa knows the police won't buy that -- especially after Arthur's assistant is found dead. Forced to hide out in a Boulder Creek mountain cabin belonging to an old flame of Willa's, the fugitive duo soon realizes their only way out of the woods is to locate the real killer. Doing so means digging into Arthur's assistant's past, and divining the truth in a community of high-tech gurus, strange survivalists, a cybernetic shaman, and a nudist who thinks he's the demigod Pan...

"Effectively blending the seemingly incongruous elements of high-tech computing and ancient mythology, Matera has produced a first-rate mystery, exhibiting her usual hallmarks of excellent plotting, solid characterizations, and brisk pacing." -- Booklist
"Few writers possess Lia Matera's wry humor, especially when it comes to putting down lawyers, or her eye for Northern California fauna." -- San Jose Mercury News

Lia Matera: Last Chants. A Willa Jansson Mystery. The Mysterious Press / Open Road Media, ISBN: 9781504066686 (June, 2021), eBook, 2175 KB (ca. 256 p.), $9.99.

Lia Matera: Last Chants (USA 2007)

From the Publisher:
Attorney Willa Jansson is on her way to a new job at a firm specializing in very-nineties multimedia law. Battling rush-hour foot traffic on her way to her first day on the new job, Willa is sidetracked by the spectacle of a close, longtime family friend brandishing a gun on the street. She knows Arthur Kenna, the famous mythology scholar, too well to believe he means any harm, so when she spots a policeman running to arrest him, Willa acts on her instinct to "rescue" him. Pretending to be Arthur's hostage, Willa engineers their getaway through San Francisco's Financial District. Arthur explains to Willa that a passerby had pressed the gun into his hand, but she knows the police aren't likely to believe him, especially now that they think she's been taken hostage. And if they discover Willa is Arthur's friend, she'll no doubt be arrested as well. Worse, when a body turns up later the same morning and the police consider Arthur a prime suspect, to Willa's chagrin she and Arthur are forced to hide out in the mountain cabin of her old flame, Edward Hershey. Realizing that their only way out of hiding is to figure out who actually is responsible for the murder, Willa and Arthur enter a bizarre netherworld in which they meet high-tech software designers who claim that the murder victim was helping to develop a cybernetic shaman ... or was he performing shamanic psychiatry on a real computer nut? Barely eluding the police, Willa must cope with the "demigod Pan," survivalists in ersatz Indian abodes, and a host of other forest eccentrics - some of whom may be computer spies ... and one of whom is about to kill again.

Lia Matera: Last Chants. A Willa Jansson Mystery. Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 1416567690 (June, 2007), 256 p., $13.95.

Lia Matera: Last Chants (1997)

From the Publisher:
Lia Matera's acclaimed Willa Jansson series has been nominated for two Edgars, two Anthonys, and a Macavity Award. LAST CHANTS proves -- again, beyond a reasonable doubt - "Lia Matera writes brilliantly" (Cleveland Plain Dealer).

Since her last appearance in the Edgar-nominated Prior Convictions, attorney Willa Jansson has unloaded some of her sixties baggage, revised her résumé, and landed a new job. On the way to her first day at a firm specializing in very. nineties multimedia law, Willa is sidetracked by the spectacle-of an old family friend brandishing a gun on the street. Knowing Arthur Kenna, mythology scholar, too well to believe he means any harm, Willa acts on instinct. She jumps between Arthur and a charging policeman, engineering their getaway through San Francisco's Financial District. But even as Arthur explains that a passerby had pressed the gun into his hand, Willa knows the cops aren't likely to believe him -- especially now that she's his "hostage." She knows they're both in trouble.

Worse, a body turns up, and Arthur's a prime suspect. The now-fugitive pair is forced to hide out -- in the Santa Cruz mountain cabin of an old flame of Willa's, much to her chagrin. As they try to put together the pieces of an increasingly bizarre puzzle, Willa and Arthur enter a netherworld of high-tech software designers who claim the deceased was helping to develop a cybernetic shaman. Suddenly, Willa has a murder mystery to solve amidst a host of eccentrics -- from survivalists to a naked fellow claiming to be the demigod Pan -- while eluding the police... and a killer who is about to strike again.

"I'm in love with Willa!" -- John Leonard of Fresh Air

Lia Matera: Last Chants. A Willa Jansson Mystery. Pocket Books, ISBN: 0671880969 (June 1997), 308 p., $5.99.

Lia Matera: Last Chants (1996)

From the Publisher:
Attorney Willa Jansson, last seen losing her job in the Edgar-nominated Prior Convictions, has finally managed to rehabilitate her résumé-and unload some of her sixties baggage. Now she is on her way to a new job at a firm specializing in very-nineties multi-media law.

Battling rush-hour foot traffic on her way to her first day on the new job, Willa is sidetracked by the spectacle of a close, longtime family friend brandishing a gun on the street. She knows Arthur Kenna, the famous mythology scholar, too well to believe he means any harm, so when she spots a policeman running to arrest him, Willa acts on her instinct to "rescue" him. Pretending to be Arthur's hostage, Willa engineers their getaway through San Francisco's Financial District.

Arthur explains to Willa that a passerby had pressed the gun into his hand, but she knows the police aren't likely to believe him, especially now that they think she's been taken hostage. And if they discover Willa is Arthur's friend, she'll no doubt be arrested as well.

Worse, when a body turns up later the same morning and the police consider Arthur a prime suspect, to Willa's chagrin she and Arthur are forced to hide out in the mountain cabin of her old flame, Edward Hershey. Realizing that their only way out of hiding is to figure out who actually is responsible for the murder, Willa and Arthur enter a bizarre netherworld in which they meet high-tech software designers who claim that the murder victim was helping to develop a cybernetic shaman... or was he performing shamanic psychiatry on a real computer nut? Barely eluding the police, Willa must cope with the "demigod Pan," survivalists in ersatz Indian abodes, and a host of other forest eccentrics -- some of whom may be computer spies... and one of whom is about to kill again.

This acclaimed writer has been nominated for two Edgars, two Anthonys, and a Macavity Award, and Willa Jansson has been hailed as "one of the most articulate and surely the wittiest of women sleuths at large in the genre" (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times). In Last Chants, it's easy to see why Fresh Air's John Leonard has declared, "I'm in love with Willa!"

Lia Matera: Last Chants. A Willa Jansson Mystery. Simon & Schuster, ISBN: 0684810859 (April, 1996), 255 p., $21.00.