Bantam © 2006, 352 pages [amazon]

Steve Solomon is beset on a number of fronts in Kill All the Lawyers, the third installment in Paul Levine’s series of legal whodunits. (See my reviews of Solomon vs. Lord and Deep Blue Alibi.) The most worrying of his concerns is that a certain Dr. William Kreeger–former client, celebrity psychiatrist, and sociopath–is out of prison and out to punish Steve for having lost his case. Meanwhile, Steve’s father, disgraced judge Herbert T. Solomon, has gone Orthodox. Steve’s sister Janice has found Jesus in rehab. And Steve’s nephew Bobby has found the “harlot-in-training” down the street. To top it off, Victoria Lord, Steve’s law partner and lover, is having doubts about their relationship. She spends most of this book agonizing over her decision to move in with him.

This time around, alas, we are made to look on as she splays her legs for an intimate waxing.Steve has found a worthy nemesis in his Dr. Phil-ish celebridoc, whose motives remain a mystery for the better part of the book. Ultimately Kreeger’s story merges nicely with those of Bobby and Bobby’s mother–who has shown up in Miami with her own brand of menace, the threat of removing

Bobby from Steve’s care. But it’s unfortunate that Victoria takes a back seat in this one. Her relationship with Steve is less interesting here than in previous outings. Too little is made of Herbert Solomon, too, who shows up now and again to spout some Yiddishism and then exits the story. On a brighter note, there is some nice development in the relationship between Steve and Victoria’s mother Irene, a woman at once magisterial and tawdry–and with a penchant for naked display. We watched Irene cavort naked poolside in Deep Blue Alibi. This time around, alas, we are made to look on as she splays her legs for an intimate waxing. The scene falls brief of funny and into the realm of the shudder-inducing.

Kill All the Lawyers seems a little stale in comparison with the first two books in the series, the characters often more cartoonish than not. I’m hoping the next outing finds them a bit more nuanced than they were allowed to be here.

Tags: books, Paul Levine, book reviews