"Fabulous legal thriller"
In New Jersey judicial circles, the name Nelson Carpenter
is legendary as the former District Attorney earned the
respect of the entire state. In Passaic County, Nelson's
oldest born, defense attorney Andy Carpenter abuses that
reputation that enables him to avoid contempt charges due
to his questionable courtroom antics that irritate judges
and prosecutors, but frees his clients. Nelson asks Andy to defend Willie Miller in the felon's
appeal of a murder conviction that the older Carpenter
prosecuted. Witnesses stated that they found the accused
standing over the murdered corpse of Denise McGregor and
Willie's fingerprints and blood were all over the murder
weapon. When Nelson dies while attending a baseball game
with Andy, the latter knows he must honor his father's last
wish of him. As he begins to become more familiar with the
Miller case, Andy is stunned to inherit a fortune and find
a seemingly incriminating photo of his dad. Soon someone
threatens to kill Andy if he insists on working the Miller
appeal. OPEN AND SHUT is a fabulous legal thriller that is at its
best when Andy stays on center stage as a loose cannon
attorney. When the subplot involves Andy's personal
relationships with his wife and his private investigator,
it loses an edge though having the sleuth capable of
kicking butt is a nice gender bender twist. Overall, the
story line is fast-paced providing readers a thrilling ride
through the New Jersey judiciary system. Jurors will
discover David Rosenfelt's debut is quite appealing and
sentence the author to providing more tales starring Andy. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted April 20, 2002
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