Dark in Death by J.D. Robb - a woman is killed during a screening of Psycho and Eve Dallas and Peabody are in charge of the investigation. A well-known author approaches them with the idea that the killing was taken from one of her books and she feels there was a previous murder too. From the clues in the next book of the series, Dallas deduces who the next victim may be. But her warnings are unheeded, leading to the next victim. We know who the killer is about halfway through and then it's a race against time to catch them. The author in the book has quite a bit to say about out there fans and I wonder if Robb is taking the opportunity to vent a little. There are the obligatory sex scenes easily skipped. This is the 48th book in the series, it's the characters that keep me coming back.
3 stars
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Stay Hungry by Sebastian Maniscalco - the comic takes us back to his beginnings in the business 20 years ago when he arrived in Los Angeles without a clue how as to become a comedian. He took every job he could while honing his act and admits he had some fortuitous breaks along the way. Not quite as humorous as I expected. He has certainly worked hard to get where he is.
3 stars
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The rest of the books are by David Rosenfelt. I got in one of my obsessive reading moods and finished out the series. (Except for the one coming out in July.) I noticed things I wouldn't have by reading them like this. The author needs a continuity/time editor. If as much time passed between cases as he states the main character would be in his fifties. These are books I read just for the enjoyment of reading, especially when I don't feel like Netflix binging or cleaning house.
I'll give them all 3 stars
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One Dog Night - lawyer Andy Carpenter is defending a man who is sure he is guilty even though he doesn't remember setting a fire that claimed the lives of 26 people. But something about his story seems wrong and it's beginning to look like there's a conspiracy to cover the truth. The plot was a bit far-fetched for me.
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Leader of the Pack - Andy Carpenter always feels bad for his clients who have lost their trials, especially when he believes they are innocent. He's always thought one young man was convicted because of his family ties to organized crime. Soon when he gets the slightest hint that something didn't come out in the trial he starts digging. Another somewhat convoluted plot, this time with quite a twist at the end. The body count is pretty high in this one.
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Unleashed - Andy's accountant,Sam (and ace computer hacker), receives a call from an old high school buddy who's looking for a criminal lawyer. But before Sam can find out why, his friend is killed in a plane crash. Except the actual cause of death was botulism. First the widow is arrested and then Sam. Someone is going to a lot of trouble to cover something up. Lots more dead bodies with some of the killing on the part of the good guys with no remorse or repercussions.
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Hounded - Andy and girlfriend Laurie get a strange call from their police captain friend, Pete, asking them to come to an address as soon as they can. When they arrive it's the scene of a murder. But what Pete wants them to do is take in the victim's young son and his dog. When Pete is arrested for the murder, Andy quickly decides it must have something to do with some questions Pete was asking about a death. As usual, there are conspiracies and deaths. Adoption, and in fact child custody, is dealt with rather cavalierly.
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Who Let the Dog Out? - a dog is stolen from the Tara Foundation, the charity shelter for dogs that Andy and his former client own. When they track the dog's gps collar they find it next to a dead body. And when they learn the dog is owned by a chemist on the run after killing his partner things get complicated. Things that irritate me that I probably wouldn't notice if I weren't reading these in a row: a dessert is presented as new even though everyone raved about it in the last book, the dog of the traumatized, adopted boy sleeps in the parents' room (I'm pretty sure he and the boy would refuse to be separated), and Laurie does all the cooking.
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Outfoxed - Andy is now involved in a prison program using inmates to train dogs so that they're more adoptable. A white collar crime inmate Andy has been working with is eligible for parole in just four months. So it comes as a great surprise when he escapes, along with the dog he's been training, and then supposedly murders his ex-wife and former partner. Of course Andy takes his case and there is much more to it than meets the eye.
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The Twelve Dogs of Christmas - Andy is representing "Pups"Boyer, a woman who takes in stray puppies and raises them until they're adoptable. One of her neighbors has turned her in for having too many pets and Andy persuades the judge to stretch the rules. But not before Pups has threatened the neighbor. And when he's murdered the next day of course she's arrested. But it looks like she's being framed and the reason has nothing to do with dogs.
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Collared - when a border collie is left at the Tara Foundation that Andy runs everyone is surprised to learn that it's a dog that disappeared the same time a baby was kidnapped. Which puts the conviction of the man arrested in question. As always there are many layers to the case and nothing is as it seems.
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