Played!

May 15, 2017
Set in St. Louis, this neat little yarn from Kahn (The Dead Hand and nine other Rachel Gold mysteries) is as lighthearted as it is lightweight. Milton Bernstein, an extremely bright but exceedingly nerdy lawyer, is engaged in research that will bring down shyster extraordinaire Leonard Pitt. Milton is startled when Hal, his good-hearted but rather dim younger brother, is arrested for murdering Pitt’s devious trophy wife, Cherry. Despite the mountain of evidence against Hal, Milton goes into full PI mode to prove his brother’s innocence. Readers have witnessed a series of quick-cut cinematic scenes showing Hal being set up for a frame, so the question is whether Milton can step out from behind his desk and become a true mensch—and whether Hal can wake up and transform himself from a slacker, used-to-be-great college baseball pitcher into something heroic, too. The outcome is never in much doubt in this pleasant tale built on the love between two brothers.

May 1, 2017
A bulldog St. Louis attorney interrupts his lawsuit against a swindling colleague long enough to defend his own kid brother, who's accused of killing the scamster's wife.Leonard Pitt has gotten ambulance chasing down to a science. His firm, Leonard Pitt & Associates, trawls the county looking for economically marginal clients, signing them up in bulk, winning penny-ante settlements for scores of them, and reaping the profits. Mid-Continent Casualty, the insurance company that's paid out plenty to Pitt, wants Milton Bernstein, of Abbott & Windsor, to go after Pitt, and it's not long before Milton finds a smoking gun: documents that indicate that Pitt was swindling his clients along with Mid-Continent Casualty. Milton would be a lot less eager to face Pitt in court if he knew that his target's secretary-turned-third-wife, Cherry Pitt, has seduced his own brother, Hal, a none-too-bright lifeguard at her country club, into an affair she plans to turn into a phony kidnapping so she can do an end run around her prenup and collect a $1 million ransom for herself. Unfortunately for Cherry, someone bursts her bubble by shooting her dead during, or perhaps just before, oral sex. It's hardly surprising that all the evidence points to Hal, a high school baseball phenom whose pro prospects were crashed by a motorcycle accident, since Cherry had been working overtime manufacturing and planting it preparatory to betraying him herself. Not to worry, Milton assures his little brother: if the only way to vindicate him is to get a confession from the real killer, that's what Milton will do. The creator of Rachel Gold (The Dead Hand, 2016, etc.) provides precious little mystery here. But the spectacle of these ornaments of the Missouri bar attacking, undermining, and double-crossing each other provides brisk, sprightly entertainment, and the hapless defendant's baseball background comes into play just when it's most needed.

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July 1, 2017

Kahn, perhaps best known for his "Rachel Gold" mysteries, steps up to the plate with this stand-alone legal thriller introducing corporate lawyer Milton Bernstein, who suddenly finds himself in the position of defense attorney when his younger brother Hal is charged with kidnapping and murder. It is Hal's college baseball career that was cut short by injury before he could turn pro that provides the title's double meaning in the face of Hal's claim that he was framed. (Unfortunately, those who may expect stronger ties to America's No. 1 pastime, particularly from a novel set in St. Louis, will be sorely disappointed.) Short chapters quickly move the plot from Hal's first encounters with Cherry Pitt, his alleged victim, through their brief romantic entanglement to her violent death. Along the way, other key players are introduced, as Milton's transformation from legal nerd to wisecracking sleuth is completed. VERDICT Fans of quick reads like James Patterson's popular "BookShots" series will be well served by this thriller's fast pace.--Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2017
Milton Bernstein, an attorney for the prestigious St. Louis firm of Abbott & Windsor, is a backroom guy, dredging up precedent for the firm's corporate clients. Milton's younger brother, Hal, is another story. A pitching phenom with a scalding heater and pinpoint control, Hal was fast-tracking to the majors when a motorcycle accident ended his career. Now he works as a lifeguard at a swanky country club, hitting on all the bored young moms. The prize he seeks above all is Cherry Pitt, trophy wife of renowned ambulance chaser and late-night-television advertiser Leonard Pitt. Cherry rebuffs Hal's advances until she doesn't. It turns out Cherry doesn't need a lover; she needs a fall guy and sets the table to frame Hal for Leonard's murder. As it happens, somebody else gets dead, but Hal still looks good for the murder, so it's time for nerdy Milton to save his cool bro's butt. Kahn is the author of the popular Rachel Gold series, and this stand-alone (for now) has the same sharp dialogue, wit, and clever plotting her fans have come to expect.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)