The Man Who Wasn't All There

January 13, 2020
This strong series launch from Edgar finalist Rosenfelt, a spin-off from the author’s Andy Carpenter series (Dachsund Through the Snow, etc.), stars Carpenter’s wife, Laurie Collins, who has left the Paterson, N.J., PD to form the K Team, which includes a former police colleague of Laurie’s and his canine partner. Their first client is Henry Henderson, a judge whose professional reputation is beyond reproach, who has received an anonymous letter advising him that he will be called on to do something that he has already been well paid for and that refusal to play ball will result in exposure. As proof that his adversary means business, Henderson has also received a bank statement someone has created in his name for a Cayman Islands account. The jurist has no idea who’s behind the extortion or their motive. The K Team’s quest for answers leads them to a cleverly conceived conspiracy and a number of corpses. This is a promising start to what’s likely to be a long-running series. 75,000-copy announced first printing. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House.

March 1, 2020

In this first in a new series by the author of the "Andy Carpenter" mysteries, Andy's wife, retired cop Laurie, her partner Marcus, and retired K9 officer Corey and his dog buddy, Simon Garfunkel, form an investigative unit: the K team. Their first case comes from a local judge, known for his rectitude in the courtroom and in his private life. For reasons unknown, someone is trying to blackmail him. The K Team swings into action (with occasional assistance and sarcasm from Andy), but very soon people involved in the case begin dying. When the judge himself is found dead of an apparent suicide, the case becomes increasingly dangerous and complex. As a dark conspiracy begins to emerge, the K Team uses creative methods to solve the case, determined to see justice done. VERDICT Fans of the "Andy Carpenter" series will find much to enjoy here, including some cameos from Carpenter himself. [See Prepub Alert, 8/19/19.]--Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2020
The creator of Paterson attorney Andy Carpenter's dog-friendly mysteries launches a new series starring several of Andy's friends and enemies, including the canine client he represented in Dachshund Through the Snow (2019), with a supporting role for Andy himself. Judge Henry "Hatchet" Henderson, whose courtroom has provided the arena for so many of Andy's shenanigans, is threatened with blackmail, and he wants the newly formed K Team--retired cop Corey Douglas; his canine partner, Simon Garfunkel; Andy's fearsome investigator, Marcus Clark; and Andy's wife, Laurie Collins--to identify and neutralize the threat, which he plans to keep confidential by paying Andy a dollar to take the case as his lawyer. At first the team's inquiries into which of Henderson's recent cases (the manslaughter conviction of ex-boxer John Lowry? The freeing of self-confessed embezzler Nina Williams on a legal technicality? The acquittal of Ponzi-scheming broker Drew Lockman?) provoked the blackmail lead nowhere. Then they lead to hints of a financial manipulation conspiracy on a grand scale. By the time they lead to Equi-net, an electronic communications network that handles securities trades for people who'd like to keep them private, five people have been murdered, with more slated to follow. The one place they don't lead is to continued confidentiality, as Henderson learns to his sorrow. The net of deceptions, double-crosses, and professional assassinations gets pretty knotty, but although the conspiracy involves an awful lot of guilty parties, the gimmick behind all their criminal activity is appealingly simple. Through it all, Corey serves as an investigator and narrator every bit as ebullient as Andy and a lot more diligent. In fact, longtime fans may wonder why Rosenfelt saw the need to create a new series that follows the pattern of Andy's 20 successful cases so closely. If he thought Paterson needed more wiseacre crime fighters, he was undoubtedly right. Don't be fooled by the brand-new packaging. If you liked Rosenfelt's rollicking previous series, you'll like this one too.

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January 1, 2020
This is the first in a new series by crime novelist and dog lover Rosenfelt, best known for his novels starring wisenheimer lawyer Andy Carpenter. This series spins off that one, moving Andy's wife, Laurie Carpenter, from a supporting role into the spotlight. Laurie, a former cop missing the action, reinvents herself as a PI, along with retired K-9 cop Corey Douglas and a retired K-9, a German shepherd named Simon Garfunkel. Marcus Clark, the mysteriously inarticulate muscle man from the earlier series, rounds out the group. Their first client is a federal judge surprised when a whopping $390,000 turns up on his bank statement. Then comes a photo of His Honor smooching a hooker. He claims a frame-up, and soon bodies pile up. It's a good yarn, but Corey is too bland to deserve all the space Rosenfelt gives him, and the shifting points of view are confusing. Simon is the real star; watch him in a dramatic fight as he "soars through the air and lands on" the killer. We want more Simon in action.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

May 14, 2021
Having trouble writing his second novel (mostly he ghostwrites celebrity autobiographies) and looking for inspiration, Stewart Hoag takes up residence at his ex-wife's house in Connecticut. He soon encounters one of her neighbors, a fellow who takes ""eccentric"" to a whole new level, and not long after that, the neighbor is murdered in a particularly grisly fashion. All Hoagy wanted to do was get his novel back on track, but now he must don his amateur-sleuth hat and solve yet another murder. After taking a lengthy break from the Hoag series (there was a 20-year gap between books eight and nine), Handler brought back the amiable writer/sleuth in 2017 (The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes), and it was as if he had never left. The series is still set in the 1990s; Hoagy's life picked up right where it had left off. This is the twelfth in the series, and it's a gift to fans, while at the same time being an excellent way for newcomers to get to know Hoagy.

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