Jane Da Silva

Jane da Silva knows a Cole Porter tune and a silky voice will only carry you so far through the urbane cabarets of Europe. So when the young widow's "eccentric" Uncle Harold dies, she jets back to the States to claim the fortune she dearly needs to ransom her Visa card. Unfortunately, Jane finds her inheritance conditional and her situation critical. It seems Uncle Harold and his old-codger cronies are part of a secret society dedicated to aiding and abetting offbeat lost causes, and Jane must carry on her uncle's "work" if she expects to see anything resembling a windfall. But just how far will the chic expatriate go when her "hopeless case" forces her to mingle with a sleaze-ball lawyer, a scheming psychiatrist, a sinister New Age cult, a stone-cold corpse--and a ruthless murderer?

It's been a long time since she solved her first "hopeless case" and Jane da Silva is running out of money. Her Uncle Harold's bizarre will provides her with a handsome income if she successfully runs his Foundation for Righting Wrongs and pleases its crusty old board of directors. Through Calvin Mason, the young attorney who befriends her, she finds a new ¿hopeless case. A real hopeless case. Kevin Shea is a teenage drug addict convicted of holding up a pharmacy and killing the druggist's wife. Kevin is such a low-life even his mother is convinced he's guilty and glad he's behind bars. Now it appears there was a witness to the murders, a young woman whose prescription was being filled at the time of the murder. The witness might be able to prove that Kevin is innocent of the murder. Jane learns that four women with the same name all live in remote areas of Vancouver Island, one of them the missing witness. There's someone else who wants to find the missing witness too, someone who isn't afraid to turn to murder when Jane gets too close for comfort. Jane's breath-taking and dangerous romp through the northern wilderness leads her to the Tip Top Club, a stripper bar, where she faces down the clever killer, and wraps up a satisfactory hopeless case, proving that everyone deserves justice.

A mousy, secretive researcher at a news-clipping service who recently won $20,000 on "Jeopardy!" is missing. Who is Irene March? That's the answer (in the form of a question) facing investigator Jane da Silva, who can collect on her eccentric uncle's vast legacy only when she solves a mystery that's stumped everyone else. When Jane places a large "Have you seen this woman?" ad in the Seattle paper, she gets intriguing responses from a rodeo queen, a dying child, and a disgraced church deacon... leads that send Jane east of the Cascades. By the time she gets to Electric City, the site of more violence, she realizes that Irene March's placid exterior shielded a cunning, even ruthless soul. And a deadly dangerous game that could have people asking, "Who killed Jane da Silva?"

Under the terms of eccentric Uncle Harold's will, Jane da Silva can only access her trust fund if she investigates "hopeless cases" for the Bureau for Righting Wrongs. Low on cash and waiting for a hopeless case, Jane is singing the blues in a Seattle hotel lounge during a seafood convention. When a young woman is shot to death, Jane agrees to help the woman's family find the murderer.