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Dead Center

by David Rosenfelt

Dead Center, by David Rosenfelt, doesn't quite reach the level of his former books. It lacks some of the spontaneity and humor, although that doesn't make it any less of a fine read. Mr. Rosenfelt's sense of fun as expressed through his main character, lawyer Andy Carpenter, is slightly more sharp and a little less witty. Maybe that's because Andy is estranged from his real love, Laurie! At any rate, Janet Evanovich' quote that “Anyone who likes the Plum books will like this book” definitely shouldn't be associated with Dead Center. It simply isn't true. There's no place in the mystery that causes one to laugh out loud.

Andy Carpenter, a wealthy lawyer in Paterson New Jersey, has been living apart from his love, Laurie Collins, who is now the acting Chief of Police in Findlay, Wisconsin. Feeling that she dumped him just to live closer to her family and roots, Andy has been hardly been fun company. Then she phones him at an ungodly hour to request his help with a case of murder against Jeremy Davidson, a young man arrested and accused of killing two young women by stabbing them to death. Laurie believes Jeremy to be innocent even though there's enough evidence against him to place him on death row.

At Dead Center of the story is Center City, a few miles west of Findlay, and a million miles away from sanity. Center City is a town with no tolerance for outsiders, a place where marriage partners are chosen only from among the inhabitants, and where everyone is brought up to believe in a strange religion making every important decision by a huge wheel. The two murdered girls were from there. Jeremy, on the other hand, is from Findlay.

Jeremy's father is Richard Davidson, who hires Andy to defend his son. Calvin Marshall is Findlay's attorney – an older man missing a leg, but Andy asks him to be second string since he needs somebody local on his side who knows the town and its people. At the arraignment, Calvin points out the prosecutor, Lester Chapmen, who happens to be a very short man. But Andy's focus is on Laurie, there to testify. The eventual result of them both being in the same town is reunion, of course – temporary, as they both realize the distance between their towns and choices can only be as long as the conclusion of Jeremy's trial.

Then Calvin is also murdered, the man who carries out all the orders from the chief mucky-muck in Center City finds his own son killed, and suspicions pile up until all is uncovered. There are several loose ends left hanging – why the stabbings instead of a gunshot? There's no mention of a knife after the initial killings, or why the first murders were so vicious. What was the change of venue causing the final murder? And why were the inhabitants of Center City so fearful of a man who evidently was kind and knew nothing of what happened with the private airplane? It seems that Mr. Rosenfelt is getting slightly careless (very possible with recognition) with his accumulation of readers. Nevertheless, David Rosenfelt provides a good story as always. Let's hope his next volume of murder-mystery demonstrates his former ability and promise!

Alan Paul Curtis

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