A Pocketful of Karma

Cannon's ( Convictions ) first Nan Robinson thriller will leave readers eager for a sequel. Nan, an attorney employed by the State Bar of California, is disconcerted when she tries to contact Debra LaRoche, a secretary who'd left her three years before, since Debra's phone machine plays an outdated message. Nan's search for Debra plunges her headlong into a world of rock groupies and past-life hypnotists, particularly those affiliated with the Past Lives Institute, run by Jonathan Henley and his sister. Nan doesn't believe in hypnotic regression, but she can understand the attraction it might hold for Debra, whose 18-month-old son was killed in a car accident--and she all too easily understands the attractions of Jonathan. When Debra's body is discovered in the trunk of her car at the Los Angeles airport and Debra's estranged husband seems to have killed himself, Nan and the police believe the case is closed. But then Nan finds Debra's journal and becomes a target herself. Cannon's skeptical heroine and her elusive villain stake out the wilds of L.A. in an auspiciously flavorsome foray. (Mar.)