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An Andy Carpenter Novel (Book 13)

Andy Carpenter is a very wealthy man due to a large inheritance and is also a lawyer. He works at the law as little as possible as his interests lie mainly in his partnership with Willie Miller. In a previous book, Andy had saved Willie from death row and proved his innocence. The two formed the Tara Foundation, which is involved with saving dogs.

Willie calls Andy and tells him that there has been a break in at the foundation. It turns out that the only thing missing is a rescue dog they named Cheyenne. With the help of a chip that is placed in the body of all dogs, they have Cheyenne traced to a location in downtown Paterson, New Jersey.  When Willie and Andy go to that location they find the dog, and a dead body of someone obviously recently and brutally murdered.

The two notify the police and take Cheyenne back to the Tara Foundation thinking that their part is now over. But Andy’s curiosity keeps him looking at the case, and when the police arrest a man named Tommy Infante and charge him with the murder, Andy has his doubts. He takes Infante on as a client and in looking for evidence to clear him finds that the murder is just one cog in a much larger and more dangerous wheel.

The story is told in first person by Andy Carpenter and showcases the wise cracking personality he has. His wife Laurie helps with advice. The usual associates are there – his secretary who is practicing for a crossword puzzle tournament and Marcus, a man of very few words but the ability to take care of the physical work. He also has contacts that help him with the local police and the FBI.

Each of the Andy Carpenter books is an enjoyable treat into some brilliant legal work coupled with a lot of humor, and the presence of dogs. All are fast reading and keeps the reader awaiting the next one in the series.

7/15 Paul Lane

WHO LET THE DOG OUT? by David Rosenfelt. Minotaur Books (July 21, 2015). ISBN: 978-1250055330. 336p.

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I used to love John Grisham. The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief were all favorites. I also loved the non-legal books like Playing for Pizza, Calico Joe and A Painted House. But somewhere along the way, I lost patience with the legal thrillers, especially when the main characters, generally well educated lawyers, started doing incredibly stupid stuff. I stopped reading them, tried again with The Litigators because my library patrons raved about it, but again found the main character too stupid to live. I gave up. Then came Gray Mountain.

I heard it may be the first book of a series, and I liked the environmental angle so I picked it up and read it in a day (okay, I was on vacation.) I loved it. Welcome back to my reading circle, Mr. Grisham.

The story revolves around Samantha Kofer, a Columbia Law School grad with a great six-figure job for one of the behemoth law firms on Wall Street. And then there was Lehman Brothers and the financial crisis and all those big law firms started cutting and cutting. Samantha got a good deal – she could take a one year furlough, do some good work pro bono, keep her medical benefits and maybe, just maybe, after the year is up she might get her job back.

The pro bono jobs were going fast; Samantha received nine rejection letters in her first day of applying. Until she heard from the Mountain Legal Aid Clinic in Brady, Virginia, a small town in the Appalachia’s. And so she moved to Virginia, at least temporarily, to work at the all girl clinic.

For the first time, Samantha likes her work and feels useful. She actually gets to help people and they appreciate her help. Until her first black lung case – a huge problem with all the mining in Appalachia. When she finds evidence that the coal company and their lawyers hid evidence, people start dying.

I learned a lot about coal mining today and what the miners go through, none of it good. I really liked these characters and the setting, and the stupidity was left to minor characters, a much welcome change. I would love to read more about Samantha and her life in Brady and hope the rumors about a series come to pass.

1/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

GRAY MOUNTAIN by John Grisham. Doubleday; First Edition edition (October 21, 2014). ISBN 978-0385537148. 384p.

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Assistant U.S. attorney Nick Davis, in a moment of weak parenting, decides to take his teenage daughter, Lizzie, along to a possible grave site search in the woods. In a nice departure from the usual teenage girl angst, Lizzie is mature, kind, and has a close relationship with her father.

Nick doesn’t expect to find anything on this, but a body is found, and the bird watcher who reported it is killed. A couple of drug dealers are the main suspects, but the story twists even further when more bodies turn up. As the case unravels, he starts to suspect even some of his own co-workers, and then real paranoia sets in.

In a bizarre twist, his most ardent opponent, a pugnacious defense attorney, becomes his sounding board and counsel. Nick has always put his faith in the justice system, but this case truly tests him, and he finds himself re-examining his own beliefs and those of almost everyone around him.

Goodman is an attorney and easily makes the transition to fiction writer, like brethren Scott Turow and John Lescroart.

Copyright ©2014 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

2/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

INDEFENSIBLE by Lee Goodman. Atria/Emily Bestler Books (June 3, 2014). ISBN 978-1476728001. 368p.