No Defense

A Barbara Holloway Novel

By: Kate Wilhelm

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Barbara Holloway is a trial lawyer who tends to take on difficult cases. One involved a woman accused of killing her own child, another involved a mentally disabled man, and her last one found her entangled in such a mess that it's a wonder she lived through it at all. But in every previous case she has had some fragment with which she could build an argument. This time out, it seems there's no defense at all.

Lara and Vinny Jessup had a lovely May-December marriage. It renewed his lease on life after a battle with cancer, and it rescued her from a bad first marriage.

Initially, the sheriff out in Loomis County thinks that Vinny died when his car rolled over on a bad curve on Lookout Mountain. Then he finds the gunshot wound. Was it suicide or was it murder? With a large insurance policy as her motive, Lara could have staged the death - or so it appears to the sheriff.

Barbara Holloway finds herself drawn to the Oregon desert to take on this case, accompanied by her associates: her colleague Shelley with her Barbie-doll looks, the inimitable detective Bailey Novell, and her father Frank (who's soon to be a published writer).

But the case itself is as dead as the desert. Is there any defense at all?

It's legal: download more of Barbara Holloway's cases.

©2000 Kate Wilhelm (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Best for its regional details, fast-paced dialogue, and solid character delineation." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Those who prefer both style and substance in their courtroom dramas will find this a satisfying read." (Publishers Weekly)

Super enjoyable

Recommended for those who love non gory criminal novels and especially for those who have a love for the Oregon landscape and history. I think the narrator is fantastic!

Judges can be culprits

very entertaining and keeps one thinking where and who the culprits are. It keeps one guessing to the end.

THING 1 AND THING 2

Free from the Plus Catalog. I love the Barbara Holloway series as they are light mysteries with legal strategies involved. No these are not necessarily fast paced but they are intriguing to listen and it is about the journey not just solving the crime. I do use the 1.2 speed to match the adventure. Give it a try. This story was reproduced from either cassette or CD, hence the change from one disc to another will repeat some of the last sentences. No worries, it is not the production but the transition from an older format to download. Ms Gavin has done 2 of these stories and both are worth your listening time and are very entertaining. She has a rich voice and can adapt to each and every author she narrates for, and I am a new fan. Her male voices are great.
This author must love Maine coon cats as they are a feature in some of this series. Hence my title!! I love these guys and I miss mine terribly! Do not miss this series with the Late great Ms Anna Fields narrating.
Were my Comments of help?

Faulty recording.

Good story so far, but won’t play beyond Chapter 33. I would like to be able to get to the end.

Enjoyable Read

Good read and nice character development. I enjoyed this book and the twists and turns.

Would be perfect

Great plot, character development and flow. Unfortunately the narrator annoying repeats sections at random times.

Impressed! First time reader!

Enjoyed the story, especially the setting being in somewhere other than the big cities! The characters were interesting (except the boyfriend...he may as well been out of the picture)...but overall, a good listen. My audio book, repeated the first two or three sentences of every 45 minutes or so, which was very annoying. For that I dropped the overall, a star.

Enjoyed the drama & suspense

Enjoyed the story development. It makes you want to realize how one wrong action can be misunderstood with fire consequences. Also, it shows the importance of perseverance in dire circumstances.

Another great read from Kate Wilhelm

Love the humour and intelligence in the Barbara Holloway series. Reading these in 2023, still feel so fresh, and the sense of empathy and justice, that Kate Willhelm, maps out is prescient.

Frustrating final hours

I liked this story and the characters generally and thought the narrator was fine. With a story that has so many characters and a fairly convoluted development, I expected so much more of the end. I get that Barbara is supposed to be a savant type, a Perry Mason who keeps it all in her head until the denouement but as the end neared, who knew what and how it all related to the death became very muddled for me. When you have to explain it all in the last chapter, in a pretty silly conversation, that's disappointing.