When Louise Braniff discreetly hands Barbara Holloway a large retainer and asks for a complete anonymity, the Oregon attorney is both intrigued and suspicious. The woman, a respected music professor, is a member of a group that sponsors worthy causes involving women. And they want Barbara to defend Carol Fredericks, a gifted young pianist who stands accused of murdering the manager of a piano bar.
Not long ago Barbara heard Carol play, and that is enough to convince her to take the case. But now the questions are coming faster than the answers. Carol's straightforward version of what happened the night Joe Wenzel; was murdered clashes with the incriminating evidence against her. And how can Barbara explain the oddly incomplete picture she gets of the young woman herself?
Carol can't remember a huge part of her past — only the new life that began when she woke up in a hospital at the age of eight to learn that her parents were dead. She has no memory of learning to play the piano, and is having haunting nightmares about a woman named Carolyn Frye.
Soon Barbara is convinced that her client is not only innocent, but that she is being framed by ruthless foes who will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. However, proving the case and keeping her client safe will require every drop of Barbara's notoriously fierce determination to get at the truth. And as she unravels the stunning trail of deception, hatred and remarkably deep abiding love that holds the key to the mystery of Carol Fredericks, Barbara discovers that the unbidden truth may just damn them both.

"The smoothest mystery novel to come along in quite a while."(Associated Press on Clear and Convincing Proof)

"Sensitive, thought-provoking, and involving, Death Qualified is an unqualified success."(Los Angeles Times Book Review)

When music professor Louise Braniff offers Barbara Holloway a large retainer to defend a young woman accused of murder--and demands complete anonymity--Barbara can't even begin to anticipate the bizarre case awaiting her.

- This is Kate Wilhelm's second original hardcover title for Mira Books.
- Desperate Measures (Mira Books, 6/02) achieved a fantastic NSR of 67%
- Widely regarded as one of today's best writers, Kate is the bestselling author of over 40 novels, including legal and psychological thrillers and many science-fiction classics.
- Her character Barbara Holloway appears in many of her novels and has established a huge fan following.
- Kate Wilhelm has won numerous awards, including the Nebula Award (three times) for short fiction, the Hugo Award, the Prix Apollo, the Jupiter Award and the Locus Award.
- Kate was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in July 2003.

Kate Wilhelm is the bestselling author of dozens of novels and short-story collections. Among her novels are the science fiction classic Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, the Good Children and the popular Barbara Holloway legal thrillers, including Clear and Convincing Proof and Desperate Measures. Born in Ohio, Ms. Wilhelm now lives in Eugene, Oregon, where she is currently at work on her latest novel.