Review of A KILLER'S KISS by William Lashner (see his website)

William Morrow, August 2007

Lawyer Victor Carl has driven away the last of his partners and is stooping to stunts to free his clients--like a youth caught up in a drug crackdown. But when his great lost love calls, when she says she's having problems with the man she left him for, when she seems to regret the breakup as much as he still does, Carl thinks he may be on the road back to happiness. There is, Carl believes, one great love in every person's life--a love that, if chance allows, could transform the mundane and make everything right. For Carl, that love is named Julia. But when Julia's husband is found murdered, the police think the case comes down to Julia or Carl. Both have motive--the only thing is, Carl knows he didn't do it and he can't believe that his great love did, either.

The police breathing down his neck would be enough problem for most people, but European mobster looking for the money that Julia's husband stole from him shortly before his death piles on. Then there's someone actively trying to frame Carl for the murder--which also puts him in the mobster's target sites. Carl wants to believe Julia is innocent, that the two of them actually have a chance together. And everything looks great when he comes up with an alibi for Julia. But if Julia didn't do it, the cops are sure he did--and that isn't what he had in mind at all.

Author William Lashner (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of mysteries by Lashner) creates a complex and sympathetic character in Victor Carl, gives him a host of psychological problems, a charming sidekick in the possibly innocent druggie, and a whole range of problems and antagonists--both those who assault him from the front and those who stab him in the back. By appealing to the universal theme of lost love, Lashner gives the story a depth that goes beyond the simple murder/sleuth/solution of an average mystery. There were times when I wanted to shake Carl by the lapels and tell him to wake up and smell the coffee--but it was easy to understand why he had to follow the path he chose.

I'm happy to recommend A KILLER'S KISS.

Four Stars

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