Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

This is one that was recommended by one of my fellow bloggers. Please accept my apologies, in advance, because I have no memory of who recommended it. I do remember that they wrote a wonderful review of this one. Also, this isn't for any of my current book challenges.

Open and Shut is a first novel so I'm curious to find out if there are more by the author. It is a legal thriller based on a retrial of a capital murder case. The lawyer, Andy Carpenter, is asked to handle the appeal by his father, the original prosecutor on the case. In the story, Andy begins to realize that the evidence is too good and starts to truly suspect that his client is innocent. At the same time, he deals with his father's death and the disintegration of his marriage. It sounds rather melodramatic but it's not.

Strengths of Open and Shut: I really liked Andy, the lawyer in the story. He had a bit of a sassy smart-mouth which lightened the mood in the story. Even though it seemed a bit obvious, I liked how the author tied in Andy's personal story to the case. I was actually surprised by some of the revelations, which impressed me. The plot moved along rapidly, and it was a quick, fun read. The author didn't try to overreach and make the story more dense than it needed to be. I also liked Andy's love interest. I'd be interested in reading another book where her character got even more to do in the story.


Weaknesses of Open and Shut: The plot was a bit contrived, but I really enjoyed it. I really didn't like the wife's character, but that was necessary to the story. Andy is such a good guy that the reader wouldn't buy him leaving his wife unless we, as readers, didn't like her much either.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was a fun read with entertaining characters. I will definitely try another one by this author, and, hopefully, it is a sequel with more from the main characters in this one.