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OPEN AND SHUT is David Rosenfelt’s debut novel. Willie Miller was sent to Death Row for the murder of Denise McGregor. Denise was a local reporter dating the son of a rich businessman, Edward. She was found murdered with Miller standing dazed over her; proof of his guilt for all concerned. Nelson Carpenter was his attorney; however, years later he wants Miller to have a retrial. Nelson asks his son, Andy, to have the case retried, and shortly thereafter dies of a heart attack. As Andy begins to investigate the case, he finds evidence of a plot against Miller. For example, Miller’s original lawyer was not the court appointed lawyer he claimed to be; someone tried (and succeeded) to frame Miller for this murder. Unfortunately for Andy, he learns that his father was involved in a conspiracy that dated back over twenty years and directly influenced the outcome of this trial. Andy has to reevaluate his feelings for his father and the possibility that he might be forced to tarnish his father’s reputation in order to find the guilty party. On the personal front, his almost ex-wife has moved back in with him and his current girlfriend, a lawyer he works with, is less than thrilled with his treatment of her. Andy’s situation gets worse as someone physically attacks him and his wife, and takes potshots at his professional reputation. The truth is the most important thing to Andy and he will continue to risk his life and his father’s reputation in order to protect an innocent man from an execution. Rosenfelt’s characters are interesting and have strong individual voices. Andy, our narrator, is engaging and witty. He sounds educated without being pretentious; informative without being annoying. Although his law tactics are not always fair, he is a good lawyer and gets the desired results. The book did lack drama simply due to Andy’s voice; however, this is something minor to sacrifice for an appealing narrator. OPEN AND SHUT is not overly suspenseful; however, the situation and characters are addictive. Finding out Nelson Carpenter’s secret is important to Andy and he makes it important to the reader. The idea that poor decision making in the past can have unforeseen consequences on both those at fault and future generations is both vital to the storyline and frighteningly realistic. Rosenfelt is an author to look for in the next couple of years. If future books are as well written and entertaining as OPEN AND SHUT, he will dominate the legal thriller genre.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, July 2003
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