Bearing Witness: A Rachel Gold Novel (Rachel Gold Novels)
Rachel Gold, a St. Louis attorney, doesn't think much of her client's  chances for succeeding in an age-discrimination suit against one of the city's  biggest engineering firms. Only her mother's plea that she represent Ruth Alpert  convinces Rachel to take on what looks like a sure loser, until Ruth mentions  her suspicions that her former employer has been involved in rigging bids for  government contracts with five other regional construction-related companies.  Tracking the bidding process is a tedious job, more suited for a powerful law  firm with plenty of resources than for Rachel's more modest practice. But with  the help of a law school professor who's an old friend and his eager minions of  young students, Rachel soon uncovers a conspiracy that's more than an illegal  bidding scam and much older than she is.Before World War II, Nazis channeled looted gold to anti-Semitic sympathizers in  the American Midwest, some of whom are still alive and are closely connected to  a contemporary group of Aryan nation skinheads led by a charismatic preacher  known as the Spider. Rachel's age-discrimination case quickly morphs into a much  deadlier enterprise. The bodies pile up as her key witnesses are murdered and  the defendant and his allies move to locate and destroy the 50-year-old evidence  that could ruin them. With a fascinating historical background and a likable  heroine, this taut little thriller, the sixth in the Rachel Gold series, sheds  new light on an obscure era in the American heartland.--Jane Adams