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Defense attorney Andy Carpenter has been successfully avoiding taking on new cases until his sometime friend and newspaper owner, Vince Sanders, calls and asks him for a favor. Daniel Cummings, Vince's star reporter, is being used as the mouthpiece for a brutal serial killer. He has been cooperating with the police but Vince wants to make sure both the newspaper and Daniel are protected. Andy thinks the case will be a piece of cake...until Daniel is found unconscious in the park next to the killer's latest victim. Daniel claims he intended to stop the murder but the police arrest him.
Now, with the help of his girlfriend Laurie and his partner Kevin, Andy reluctantly plunges into the case. And as he learns more about Daniel's shady background he begins to wonder how deadly the truth might be.
This is not quite as promising a situation as it sounds. First of all, I'm in a Laundromat. The actual name is the Law-dromat, owned by my associate Kevin Randall. Kevin uses this business to emotionally, as well as literally, cleanse himself of the rather grimy things we're exposed to in our criminal law practice. In the process he dispenses free legal advice to customers along with detergent and bleach.
Also, the woman giving me this particular eye is not exactly a supermodel. She's maybe four feet eleven inches tall, rather round, and wearing a coat so bulky she could be hiding a four-gallon jug of Tide under it. Her hair is stringy and most likely not squeaky clean to the touch.
Truth be told, even if we were in a nightclub and the woman looked more like Halle than Boysen Berry, I doubt I could accurately gauge the situation. I'm no better than average-looking myself and thus have almost no experience with women giving me the eye. In fact, though I'm not in the habit of counting offered body parts, it's safe to say that over the years I've gotten the finger more than the eye. And I've probably gotten the boot more than both of them combined.
To totally close off any romantic possibilities in this encounter, I remain inlove with, and totally faithful to, one Laurie Collins. So no matter how this round stranger tries to tempt me, I'm not about to engage in an early evening bout of tawdry Laundromat sex.
I notice that the woman's eyes start alternating between me and the door, though no one else is entering. And as I move in her general direction, she starts to inch toward that door. This woman is afraid of me.
"Hi," I say, figuring a clever opening like that will put her at ease. Instead, she just nods slightly and seems to draw inward, as if she wants to become invisible. "Kevin around?" I ask.
The woman mutters, "No ... I don't know ...," then gathers her clothes, which she hadn't yet put into the machine, and quickly leaves. In the process she bangs into Kevin's cousin Billy, who is just coming in. Billy runs the place when Kevin is not around.
"Hey, Andy. What's with her?" Billy asks.
"I'm not sure. I think she was afraid she might succumb to my charms."
He nods. "We've been getting a lot of that lately."
"What do you mean?"
Billy just points toward a shelf high up in the corner of the room, and for the first time I realize that there is a television up there. It's turned to local news, though the sound is off. There was a day when that would have been a problem, but now all the stations have that annoying crawl along the bottom of the screen.
The subject of the newscast is the murder of a woman last night in Passaic, the third such murder in the last three weeks. The killer has chosen to communicate and taunt the police through Daniel Cummings, a reporter for a local newspaper, and in the process has created a media furor. The woman who just left is not alone in her fear; the entire community seems gripped by it.
"They making any progress?" I ask, referring to the police.
Billy shrugs. "They're appealing to the guy to give himself up."
I nod. "That should do the trick. Where's Kevin?"
"Doctor."
"Is he sick?" I ask, though I know better. Kevin has as many admirable qualities as anyone I know, but he happens to be a total hypochondriac.
Billy laughs. "Yeah. He thinks his tongue is swollen and turning black. Kept sticking it out for me to look at."
"Was it swollen?"
He shakes his head. "Nope."
"Black?"
"Nope."
"Did you tell him that?" I ask.
"Nope. I told him he should get it checked out, that he might be getting 'fat black tongue' disease." He shrugs and explains, "I'm a little short this month; I needed the hours."
I nod; the more time Kevin spends at the doctor, the more time Billy gets to work here. I hand an envelope to Billy; it had come to the office for Kevin. "Give this to him, okay?"
"You making deliveries now?" he asks.
"I'm on my way to the foundation."
Billy nods. "Listen, do me a favor? When you see Kevin, tell him his tongue looks like a bowling ball."
"No problem."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Bury the Lead by David Rosenfelt Copyright © 2004 by David Rosenfelt. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Fans of courtroom drama will enjoy David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter novels. Andy is a North Jersey lawyer with a flair for the dramatic and a deep dedication to justice. He's generous with his wealth, a devoted lover, a loyal friend, and crazy about dogs -- especially his golden retriever, Tara. After getting an innocent man off death row (in the Edgar Awardnominated first novel Open and Shut) Andy finds it tough to choose his next client. He overcomes that "lawyer's block" in First Degree, agreeing to defend a crook accused of the brutal murder of a dirty cop. Andy has reason to believe his unsavory client is innocent of this particular crime. Unfortunately, his efforts to prove it make Andy's lover, Laurie, the new prime suspect. Then, in Bury the Lead, a friend's plea pulls Andy into defending a journalist accused of being the serial killer he'd claimed had chosen to speak through his column. Deliver your own verdict, as David Rosenfelt gives Ransom Notes some fascinating evidence about how he created the captivating characters and events in the Andy Carpenter series.
David Rosenfelt: When I started writing, I naturally gravitated towards what I like to read -- mysteries. It's audience participation literature that allows the reader to enter a world in which logic and emotion coexist as equal partners.
Other than our shared hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, my lead character Andy Carpenter's biography is quite different from my own. He's a lawyer, and I spent most of my adult life marketing movies. The only real similarity is that Andy and I can both be relentlessly argumentative and sarcastic. In fact, that's why I made Andy a lawyer. It's the one profession where those qualities are admired. However, not being a lawyer myself, I bring a layman's point of view to Andy's client selection. A criminal trial is an incredibly long and arduous experience for a defense attorney. I could not see going through that if I knew my client didn't deserve his freedom. I made Andy extremely wealthy so that he can afford to pick and choose his cases.
Laurie's being the defendant in First Degree made it personal for Andy in a way that nothing else could; he literally could not imagine living his life while she was behind bars. Laurie is Andy's link to human sensitivity; she exposes him to the kind of things that he can't learn by clicking his TV remote. His love for her is the one thing he can't control -- a vulnerability that cannot be shielded by logic or wisecracks. Likewise, he only agreed to work for Daniel in Bury the Lead, despite his doubts about the man's innocence, because the case was crucially important to his friend Vince. Since Andy can count his good friends on very few fingers, when one of them needs him, he's there.
Ransom Notes: Why did you make Andy so interested in rescuing dogs from death row? DR: Shortly after my dog (the real Tara) died in 1993, my wife and I started the Tara Foundation, dedicated to rescuing large dogs. To date we have rescued over 4,000 dogs. When the foundation has a dog that is too old or sick to be wanted by others, I bring it home. The point, if it isn't already obvious, is that I am a certified dog maniac, and I have decided to spread my lunacy through Andy.
RN: Do you like to hear from readers?
DR: Hearing from the terrific people who take the time to let me know their reactions to what they've read makes going to the computer each morning a pleasure for me. I can be reached at dr27712@aol.com, or through my web site at www.davidrosenfelt.com.
COPPERPEN8
Posted February 2, 2010
I Also Recommend:
This is my 3rd book in the series...I have bought them all on ebooks! The author keeps me coming back for more,funny & this one had you going in circles trying to figure out whodoneit!!My only complaint is why book 4 hasn't come out in an ebook...Jean Heming
P.S.wish I could meet Andys dog,Tara
For those readers that have read Andy Carpenter novels, this one has all the same elements. Andy is faced with defending a seemingly "doomed" client charged with murder and with nothing to go on as far as a defense. All the usual characters are present; including Laurie his girlfriend (and his private investigator), Kevin who runs the laundromat, Marcus the unstoppable bodyguard and investigator and of course Tara the dog.
Like all other books in the series before and since what makes this book work is Andy's first person narration and usual side comments that usually mean the opposite of what he actually says out loud. In this one a reporter has been contact by a serial killer who tells him about murders he has committed and some he is committing. The reporter becomes a type of celebrity because everyone wants to read his column. Eventually, something happens to make the police believe that the reporter is in fact the serial killer. They do not believe him that the killer told him all the details he knows, but that he actually did the killings.
Enter Andy and his team to the rescue. As Andy gets more involved he finds that the case may lead to Dominic Petrone (the recurring Mafia Don in these books) and that Andy could put his own life in jeopardy if he says too much.
I would have rated this book higher but it had one of those endings where when everything is resolved it is just too far-fetched. Also, the book is very short (I read it in one sitting). A fun read nonetheless.
Anonymous
Posted April 14, 2007
While in the checkout line at Barnes and Noble,I saw this hardback listed as a bargain book. Never read Rosenfelt so what the heck. This guy is unbelievable. Andy Carpenter is a hoot and the book is one of the best I have ever read. A blend of humor and courtroom banter that is priceless. If you enjoy the crime genre you MUST read books by Rosenfelt. After completing this one I ordered books 1, 2, and 4 'this one is #3'. I have not been disappointed. I suggest you read them in order and 'Open and Shut' is the first. I rank this guy up there with the best around, what a treat.
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Posted February 2, 2007
Attorney Andy Carpenter is at it again with another oddball case filled with confusing leads. I am definitely a huge fan of David Rosenfelt, and he only gets better and better with each book. Again, you don't see what is coming up until it hits you in the face. Great, great read!!
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Posted June 14, 2004
Rosenfelts books are fun to read, his observations about characters and events draw the reader into a world that could easily be your own backyard. His humor is engaging. His main character is romantic without being sappy or wimpy. Men can relate to him and his relationship to his remote control, his dog and his team while women will wish their own partners all had a bit of Andy Carpenter in them. The court is a game he plays masterfully,we wish more lawyers were like that. He solves his crimes taking all of us on round about trip...and we are all satisfied at the end.
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Posted May 13, 2004
David Rosenfelt jumped to the top of my favorite authors. His first two books are wonderful, but this one falls short of the mark. Unlike the first two, the beginnning is very slow. I didn't get caught up in the story until the middle of the book (and usually I've put a book down by then). But because I read his first two books, I kept plugging along with this one. He's still a wonderful author, but this book was a real disappointment, since I know what he's capable of.
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Posted April 2, 2004
The women in North Jersey are panicking because a serial killer is on the loose, a sociopath who strangles women from behind with a scarf and then cuts off their heads. His victims have been an elderly grandmother, a prostitute and a businesswoman. A reporter on Patterson¿s local newspaper Daniel Cumming is the only person who the killer communicates with and he has become a part of the story as much as he reports it................................ Daniel¿s editor, Vince Sanders, is overjoyed because the circulation of the paper is rising at a fantastic rate but something is bothering him so he calls lawyer Andy Carpenter to represent the paper and Daniel. When the killer informs Daniel where to find the next victim, he races to the area but he gets hit on the head and loses consciousness. When he awakens the police treat him like a suspect and after they find two hands and scarves with blood on it, they arrest Daniel. Vince begs Andy to represent his reporter and he acquiesces even though he isn¿t sure Daniel is innocent................................... There are many surprising twists in this exciting legal thriller which the author handles with panache and a sense of stark realism. The characters are off beat originals especially the protagonist who has inherited $22 million dollars yet his idea of a good time is spending a day watching football, playing with his dog and having fun with his significant other. He is a high profile lawyer who usually wins cases but this one means calling in favors. The ending is a surprise that readers will think about for a long time...................... Harriet Klausner
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Overview
The hero of David Rosenfelt's previous novels, Edgar-nominated Open and Shut and First Degree, Andy Carpenter returns to prove the innocence of a reporter accused of being a serial killer.Defense attorney Andy Carpenter has been successfully avoiding taking on new cases until his sometime friend and newspaper owner, Vince Sanders, calls and asks him for a favor. Daniel Cummings, Vince's star reporter, is being used as the mouthpiece for a brutal serial killer. He has been cooperating with the police but Vince wants to make sure both the newspaper and Daniel are protected. Andy thinks the case will be a piece of cake...until Daniel is found unconscious in the park next to the killer's ...