Character Witness

When Lionel Brooker was found dead in a bathroom stall at Tyske Industries, his widow, Sarah, his ex-wife, Louise, her lawyer, Gerry O'Doul, and his niece Kathleen Cotter come together to form an unlikely team. Louise needs Gerry and Kathleen to help her collect on Lionel's life insurance. Lionel, it turns out, did not die of a heart attack, but of a heroin overdose--the question is, did he commit suicide? Kathleen's investigation takes her closer to the heart of power in L.A. but also to the realization that Lionel was murdered. The author of Keeping Counsel and Beyond Malice does what one expects of a good writer of legal thrillers, i.e., drives the plot through unexpected twists without overstretching the bounds of credible law. But Forster adds a bonus by transcending the flat stereotypes of the genre and creating, instead, diverse and realistically drawn characters. (Apr.)