With Intent to Kill

Liz Stanfield is trying to make the best of a lousy time: her marriage is over; she's got 15 pounds to lose; her mother has nothing nice to say about her; and she's trying one of the worst cases of her career--the brutal murder of a young boy, perhaps by another child. Stanfield, an assistant D.A. in a wealthy suburb of Milwaukee, Wis., where she's recently moved, teams up with detective captain Jeff Gardner, who doesn't hide his disgust at having Stanfield working with him on the investigation. With the town's rich and impatient citizens hounding them, the two sleuths work to pull the pieces of the crime together. Although Kopp (Acts & Omissions) moves the plot along nicely as the two try to find some evidence to convict the accused, and includes plausible police details, the novel's soap-opera dialogue (""I don't know why you're being so coy.... The man's a hunk. Trying to land him would certainly be a more noble pursuit than wasting your time with Hapless Harry"") ultimately leads to disappointment. (Nov.)