Murder.com

May 9, 2016
After a long hiatus, retired high-end New York lawyer Reuben Frost and his former dancer wife, Cynthia—modern senior updates of Nick and Nora Charles—return in Murphy’s uneven eighth Reuben Frost mystery (following 1992’s A Very Venetian Murder). The couple can’t resist assisting their good friend at the NYPD, Det. Luis Baptista, in the strangling murder case of Marina Courtland, the adult daughter of billionaire Daniel Courtland. Daniel is Reuben’s former client and an extremely important revenue stream for his former law firm, Chase & Ward. Murphy (the pseudonym of former lawyer James Duffy) takes the reader on a delicious tour of Manhattan via four tony restaurants—noting where to sit and what to order, complete with wine pairings—as well as several private clubs and some bawdy off-Broadway theater. Unfortunately, those expecting Reuben and Cynthia to display the wit of Hammett’s characters, particularly as played by William Powell and Myrna Loy in the movies, will be disappointed.