Description:

From Publishers Weekly

Payment in advance lures cheerfully selfish criminal defense attorney Victor Carl (who last fought the good fight in 2004's Past Due) to seek a new trial for François Dubé, a charming French chef convicted of murdering his beautiful wife, in Lashner's fifth legal thriller. Like every case in every courtroom drama, Dubé's is more complicated than it first appears, involving secrets that could humiliate, if not bring down, half of Philadelphia society. Carl, who thinks Dubé did it even as his partner, Beth Derringer, says otherwise, is further distracted by a new pro bono client he's taken on and a throbbing toothache that sends him into the less-than-tender hands of Dr. Bob, a dentist who takes a holistic approach by involving himself in every aspect of his patients' lives. Soon Carl's getting himself a new girlfriend, a new wardrobe, new dental work and a new set of troubles from the cream of Philadelphia high life. Lashner works overtime to amuse the reader, arming his tough-talking characters with jokes to spare, leading to a tone that's somewhere between Raymond Chandler and Chandler Bing. Toning down the relentless wisecracking might have helped sell the more serious parts of the book (would the victim's grieving mother really tease Carl about his missing tooth?), but the well-staged plot twists and Carl's amusingly amoral narration make for good beach reading.
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From

Starred Review In maverick defense attorney Victor Carl, Lashner (himself a former trial lawyer) has created one of legal-thrillerdom's most interesting and morally ambiguous characters. Here, for instance, Carl begins his story by admitting to "my own utter selfishness"--and if you have read any of the previous entries in this series, you know he's not being coy. Carl really is selfish, along with being manipulative and more than a little shady, but he is also highly intelligent, quick witted, and somehow, despite his abundant flaws, likable. This time out he has accepted (very reluctantly) the appeals case of a man who has been convicted of murder but who insists he's innocent. There is also the matter of the police detective who might have used ethically shaky methods to convict the man. And we must not forget Dr. Bob, Victor's dentist, a charismatic and enigmatic fellow who works his own special brand of magic with Victor's shabby lifestyle. But what is this troubling connection between Dr. Bob and the murdered wife of Victor's client? This is a sordidly fascinating story, compellingly told (as usual) with wit, drama, and a delightfully fluid sense of morality. There really is no one quite like Victor Carl, and Dr. Bob is one of the most intriguing supporting characters ever to inhabit a legal thriller. Great fun and a wonderful antidote to the high seriousness of too many legal thrillers. David Pitt
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