More series speak : Barbara Holloway mysteries by Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm's marvelous series about defense attorney Barbara Holloway is definitely one of my favorites.  I've been trying to catch up on these over the summer.  Although they are involved mysteries, requiring some brain work on the reader's part, they are so well written and flow so smoothly that they are actually relaxing.  They're not the typical beach read, but they do present likeable characters that draw the reader in.  They present believable scenarios, thought-provoking ethical dilemmas, and often a series of realistic and scary "what if's" that pull the reader inexorably to an often surprising conclusion.

In Sleight of Hand, Barbara must defend a reformed pick-pocket who is wrongly accused of lifting a valuable artifact.  When the owner of the trinket turns up dead, the charges are elevated to murder, and, as they say, "the plot thickens."

Wrongful Death begins with the delicious plot twist of having Barbara Holloway as the prime suspect in the disappearance (kidnapping?) of young man whose mother she finds murdered.  It gets more involved, with shocking revelations of crime at many levels, mistaken (or misleading?) identities, and a story that takes the reader right to the brink of a shocking ending.

Fabulous mysteries, great protagonist, and really well-developed characters who keep getting better with each new volume in the series.