The major social issue in Amanda Cross's novel, In the Last Analysis, is professional ethics, in particular the integrity of the medical profession—including psychiatry—and the confidentiality of the doctor-patient relationship. One of Kate Fansler's students has asked her to recommend a psychiatrist, and is later found murdered on the couch of the man Kate has recommended— Kate's close friend and former lover. As Kate becomes involved in proving her psychiatrist friend's innocence of the crime, the turns of the plot present in some detail the ethical and personal requirements for the honorable practice of medicine.

The practice of law is subjected to similar though more limited scrutiny when Kate requests the assistance of her friend Reed Amhearst, who works in the District Attorney's office. By providing Kate with information from the police investigation of the murder, Reed is technically violating the...