Face Value — Lia Matera

It's been ten months since Laura Di Palma was fired from her high powered-San Francisco law firm for doing pro bono work--without the firm's consent. Now, the tenacious attorney has come back a solo act. With an office too far south of Market Street to be fashionable, Laura will take any case that pays the rent. But she's not prepared for the one that walks through her door....

The client is a former colleague who comes to Laura with some shocking charges. It seems the woman is involved with a New Age guru whose spiritual guidance includes videotaping group sex sessions and then "reimaging" the participants on his computer to reveal their auras. Now the tapes, sans auras, have begun showing up in local porn parlors.

With the help of Sandy Arkelett, a smooth-talking private eye--and former flame--Laura starts investigating. But when her client suddenly drops the charges and six strippers are murdered, she realizes there is more to the story than a few libelous videos. On a trail that spirals from a private fantasy island to sex club back rooms and corporate boardrooms, Laura is working a precarious case that could put her new career on the map--or kill her trying.