In this 22nd book in the 'Andy Carpenter' series, the attorney represents an ex-convict accused of murder. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Ever since he inherited a large fortune, New Jersey defense lawyer Andy Carpenter takes very few cases.
Instead, Andy devotes his time to hanging out with his wife, son, and dogs; schmoozing with his friends; helping run a canine rescue operation called 'The Tara Foundation'; watching sports; and so on.
Still, when Andy's ex-con friend Willie Miller, who helps run The Tara Foundation, implores the lawyer to defend his old cellmate Tony Birch, Andy (reluctantly) says yes. Tony Birch once belonged to a gang called the Fulton Street Boyz, and is accused of killing two former gang members who ratted him out to the cops, sending him to prison for three years.
Tony has been out of jail for six years now, running an auto repair shop, and Andy deems it unlikely the ex-con waited this long to get revenge. Moreover, Andy learns that the Fulton Street Boyz was a satellite gang of The Blood Dragons, which is led by a thug called Luther.
Andy thinks Luther may have killed the dead Fulton Street Boyz and framed Tony. Things get even more complicated when additional bodies turn up, all of them connected to gang activity is some fashion.
Once Andy gets the Tony Birch case, he prepares his team to defend the ex-con. Andy's crew includes a new hire, attorney Eddie Dowd, who's a former football player;
secretary Edna - who does no work;
and computer genius Sam Willis - who can hack anything.
Andy is also assisted by his wife Laurie, an ex-cop who runs a detective agency.
Laurie's partners are Marcus Clark - the scariest man on Earth;
Corey Douglas - a former cop; and Simon Garfunkel - Corey's ex K-9 partner.
All this takes place during the Christmas season, which - in Laurie's eyes - lasts four months. This means four months of Christmas decorations and Christmas music, which is a tad too much for Andy.
Andy observes, "It doesn't take me long to get sick of Bing Crosby telling me that Santa knows when I've been sleeping and when I'm awake."
Andy's a good husband, father, and doggy-daddy, and he's very attentive to the family pooches Tara and Sebastian.
In this book Andy also helps care for Tony's dog Zooey, who's staying at the Tara Foundation while her owner is in the clink awaiting trial.
Part of the charm of the Andy Carpenter books is the humor, and new character, attorney Eddie Dowd - who loves sports expressions, adds to the fun. Eddie is replacing Andy's old partner Hike, who's moving away, and Eddie says, "I'd just like to say that it's a pleasure to pinch-hit for Hike, and as long as I'm in the lineup, I'll give a hundred and ten percent." Eddie also talks about legal matters in terms of spiking balls, the end zone, making a play, a slam dunk, and so on.
Andy can follow the baseball, football and basketball allusions, but says "If [Eddie] starts making cricket or badminton references, I'm going to be lost."
Andy's snarky humor permeates the story, including the courtroom scenes, and the book provides a lot of laughs. For instance, Andy has to chitchat in one scene and he remarks, "I'm forced into make conversation mode. It is not my favorite mode; 'cherry pie à la' is my favorite mode."
This is a fun cozy that would appeal to fans of the genre.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (David Rosenfelt), and the publisher (Minotaur Books) for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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