Fri 7 Nov 2025
Archived Mystery Review: LIA MATERA – Where Lawyers Fear to Tread.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[4] Comments
LIA MATERA – Where Lawyers Fear to Tread. Willa Jansson #1. Bantam, paperback original, 1987. Fawcett, paperback, 1991.
When Susan Green, editor-in-chief of the Malhousie Law Review, is found murdered in her office, there is no shortage of suspects. Besides other various editors. There are all of the faculty, of course, and numerous spouses, lovers, distinguished alumni,and so on.
Willa Jansson, former senior articles editor, unwillingly pressed into service as Susan’s replacement, also turns detective. Almost everyone is suspected in turn, and many of them are guilty (of something). An intense sort of story, in a cluttered sort of way.
The Willa Jansson series —
Where Lawyers Fear to Tread, Bantam, 1987.
A Radical Departure, Bantam, 1988.
Hidden Agenda, Bantam, 1988.
Prior Convictions, Simon & Schuster, 1991.
Last Chants, Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Star Witness, Simon & Schuster, 1997.
Havana Twist, Simon & Schuster, 1998.
November 7th, 2025 at 11:58 pm
Besides the seven Willa Jansson books, Lia Matera wrote five in a series about Laura Di Palma, also a lawyer. Twelve books in 19 years, then they stopped so she could (one supposes) concentrate on her own legal career.
This did leave her time to write shorter fiction; two collections came out later, in 2000 and 2012
November 9th, 2025 at 7:41 am
Wow, it’s been a long time since I heard her name. We did read several in both of her series back then, but can’t remember offhand how many. I think I liked one much more than the other, but again, it’s lost in the mist of time. I didn’t know about the short story collections, though I have read at least a couple of her stories in various anthologies. It all had a very Berkeley/lefty feel to it, as I recall.
November 9th, 2025 at 7:43 am
Wow, looking up her Wikipedia page, I had no idea she was Canadian.
November 9th, 2025 at 12:50 pm
I didn’t know that, either:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lia_Matera
At one time, in terms of library sales and used bookstores, her books were everywhere. That was a while ago, it goes without saying. She’s been pretty much forgotten by almost everyone since then. (But not by this blog, though, of course.)