Rebecca Schwartz is a perfectly respectable San Francisco lawyer who just happens to represent a group known as HYENA (Head Your Ethics toward a New Age), who are in favor of legalizing prostitution and who organize a local demonstration to promote same that is known as the Strumpet Strut. One of the people she has gotten to know through her work with HYENA is Elena Mooney, who runs a co-op bordello.

Elena is hosting a party for the FDOs (Friday Downtown Operators) at her co-op bordello and finds that the pianist she engaged for the party has become ill. So, she inveigles Rebecca into tarting herself up a bit and filling in as the pianist. At some time during the evening, the party is raided by people who are ostensibly from the police. Elena gets Rebecca to sneak out the back with a client who is a well known local politician. On the way away from the scene, Rebecca has an automobile accident. Rather than staying around to be rescued, the politician flees the scene.

Rebecca spends some time at the police station, but eventually gets home. When she arrives, she finds that one of the guests from the party has been murdered in her living room. The guest goes by the name of Kandi, and is a "working girl". She is also, it turns out, the sister of Rebecca's current boy friend and escort at the party, one Parker Phillips. In addition to finding Kandi murdered, Rebecca sees that her apartment has been tossed. She also finds a rather sizable wad of cash hidden in one of her house plants. So what to do?

Rebecca tries to stay out of the investigation, but keeps getting pulled in. We end up with crooked politicians, a bent cop, who tries to frame and then murder Rebecca. And so forth. A fairly fun rollick.

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Rebecca Schwartz, feminist lawyer, plays piano in a whorehouse and finds a murdered whore on her rug. First in series.

This book had me intrigued from page one! Between all the crazy events & the excellent characters it was difficult to put this one down. The details were rich and I kept guessing right along with the heroine 'who done it.' I would highly suggest this book as a must read & am excited to begin book 2! ( )

This book had me intrigued from page one! Between all the crazy events & the excellent characters it was difficult to put this one down. The details were rich and I kept guessing right along with the heroine 'who done it.' I would highly suggest this book as a must read & am excited to begin book 2! ( )

This is a quick read and not too bad a story. Rebecca Schwartz is a feminist Jewish lawyer in San Francisco who, among other clients, represents some prostitutes who operate a co-operative bordello. Rebecca is talked into playing piano for a party at the bordello. When the bordello is raided, her client whisks her into a downstairs bedroom with a hidden exit. Also in the bedroom is a naked senator. Rebecca is convinced to drive the senator to a place of safety, and then herself get changed into respectable lawyer clothing and return to the bordello to represent her clients. Unfortunately she has an accident while driving the senator and he flees the car when the police show up. Rebecca appears to be intoxicated and has no id because she left her purse at the bordello so she is taken into the station for a breathalyzer test. Once clear of that obstacle she calls her client and finds out that the raid was a hoax and one of the other ladies, Kandi, has gone to her place with her purse. When she goes to her apartment she finds Kandi dead on her Flokati rug. Her boyfriend, who is Kandi's brother, is charged with the murder so Rebecca has to find the real murderer to get him off.

I liked Rebecca's take on things and I'll be looking for more of this series. ( )