Audiobook: First Degree by David Rosenfelt

First Degree
Author: David Rosenfelt
Narrator: Grover Gardner
Publication: Listen & Live Audio, Inc. (April 3, 2008)
Length: 6 hours and 40 minutes

Description: Nominated for the Edgar and Shamus Awards, David Rosenfelt's debut novel, Open and Shut, was widely praised by listeners and critics. Rosenfelt returned with this riveting mystery, First Degree, featuring irreverent and dynamic lawyer Andy Carpenter.

When a cop's body is found burned and decapitated, the last thing Andy Carpenter expected is for a stranger to waltz into his office and admit to the crime. For the wise-cracking millionaire defense attorney suffering from "lawyer's block", the case looks like a no-brainer...until the cops pick up another suspect: Andy's lead P.I., Laurie Collins, who happens to be the love of his life.

Soon Laurie's facing conviction for the grisly murder and Andy must desperately try to save her. All he had wanted was a case to sink his teeth into. Now he gets one that's a kick in the head - and the heart.

My Thoughts: This is the second Andy Carpenter novel and this time Andy has to find a way to prove that his girlfriend Laurie is innocent of the brutal death of a fellow police officer. It was because she turned him in for corruption that Laurie left the force and became a private investigator.

The story begins when a man comes to Andy's office to confess that he was the one who killed the cop. Even though he doesn't take the case, because of lawyer-client privilege, he can't tell anyone what he has learned. So he volunteers to defend the man the police arrest for the crime even though he is a major slimeball and someone Laurie has been watching because he sold drugs to a young daughter of a friend.

Andy is also busy getting used to the idea that he is now a multi-millionaire and is helping the man he saved from death row get a multi-million dollar settlement from the men who framed him for the crime.

When Laurie is arrested, and the evidence looks like she committed the murder, Andy needs to get serious about finding out who is trying to frame her.

I like that Andy is irreverent and has a smart mouth. I like that he is dedicated to his clients. I liked the courtroom drama and the legal maneuvering.

Grover Gardner did a great job of making Andy Carpenter a character worth knowing.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.