Barbara Holloway has a reputation for taking on the toughest cases in the Pacific Northwest... and winning them. But this time it looks as though she's up against an unbeatable opponent.

The trial involves the murder of Gus Marchand, a hardworking, Godfearing man who was found dead on his kitchen floor. Without any real evidence linking him to the crime, the locals cast their suspicions towards Alex Feldman, Marchand's hideously deformed neighbor. At the request of a fellow attorney, Barbara agrees to defend him.

But another suspect is the high school principal, Hilde Franz, who'd had a contretemps with the dead man earlier that week. He had threatened to have her investigated and Hilde was seen near Marchand's property around the time of his death, giving police both a motive and an opportunity for murder. Hilde also happens to be an old friend of Barbara's father, Frank, so naturally, he's going to defend her.

Will Barbara have to square off against the man who taught her all she knows?

Desperate Measures is vintage Kate Wilhelm... which is to say, it's a pageturning delight.