[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Andy Carpenter’s status as a retired defense attorney is in jeopardy again when his business partner, Willie Miller, asks Andy to take on a new client. Tony Birch was Willie’s cellmate once, and Tony has been arrested again. The prosecution’s story is that Tony was angry at the guy who testified against him and put him in jail. But when more bodies start piling up, it seems that Tony might have been set up.
As Andy and his team dig further into the case, the frame up becomes more clear, but the reasons are elusive. If the defense can’t catch a break, Tony could go to jail for something he didn’t do.
Review
This is book 22 in the fun Andy Carpenter series. As always, this has a terrific dog as well as Andy and his top notch team.
I am happy to say I puzzled out what was really going on before Andy did, although he did fill in a couple gaps for me in the end to round the case out. This one was tricky, and for awhile I wondered if Andy was going to pull it together in time.
While this takes place around Christmas, the holiday is not a major factor in the story. And other than a new cast member, there weren’t any big non-case-related surprises here for the series.
Series fans will enjoy spending some snark-filled hours with Andy, watching him wrestle through another case. This hits all the usual beats for the series. Newcomers should be able to enjoy this on its own without issue. But if you love the team here like I do, you’ll want to go back and pick up some of the earlier books. Some of my favorites are: Bury the Lead (♥♥♥♥♥), Play Dead (♥♥♥♥♥), and The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (♥♥♥♥♥).
Rating: ♥♥♥♥*
*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read.