The Dead Hand

July 4, 2016
Kahn’s 10th mystery featuring St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold (after 2014’s Face Value) is more law-school textbook than legal thriller. The eponymous dead hand is an archaic term that refers to a person’s attempt while alive to control his or her assets beyond the grave into perpetuity. Rachel must grapple with two such cases at the same time. One client is Cyndi Mulligan, a widow being sued by her stepson, who had a falling out with his late father over the family business. The other is Marsha Knight, a dead millionaire’s first wife in danger of losing her divorce settlement through the machinations of the deceased’s young widow. Long expository legal passages are relieved by the lively supporting characters, who include Rachel’s supportive law partner, Jacki Brand; jolly lawyer friend Benny Goldberg; and Rachel’s matchmaking mother. Kahn’s signature diverting and snappy banter is a plus.

September 15, 2016
Attorney Rachel Gold has her hands full with two new cases involving arcane rules of inheritance. In one, trophy widow Cyndi Mulligan wants to make sure that the estate of her late husband, Bert, will go to her daughter. The deceased's first wife is challenging the will because the child was born 11 months after Bert died. The second case deals with Marsha Knight, the ex-wife of a deceased lingerie manufacturer. The man's widow is suing to contest Marsha's divorce settlement using the difficult Rule against Perpetuities. This will leave Marsha destitute. Rachel, with some help from her brilliant friend Benny and associate Jacki, will do their research to find a way to win these zombie cases. While she continues to work, her mother is playing matchmaker and Rachel, a widow, may have a new romantic interest. Readers who enjoy legal procedurals will find the complex reasoning involved in these cases satisfying. Kahn, a lawyer with a good sense of humor, uses a light touch to make complicated points of law accessible and even enjoyable as mystery fare.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)