Richard M. (algernon99) -
Helpful Score: 6
Wow! This one was just right for me. It's mildly humorous and witty, yet very compelling. I don't like the standard intense thrillers that become bestsellers. I want a more easygoing, normal tone to my stories. This one sounds like a story told by a good friend with self-deprecating humor and a relaxed voice. The story, however, builds and builds and is very, very good. It also helps that the main guy here is a lawyer without a billion-dollar practice--he's just a guy who muddles along. My wife is an attorney, and this is a lot closer to real life than the nonsense we see on TV and in legal bestsellers. Yet, even though real life is a lot more boring, the book is far from boring. It's hard to explain, but I loved this story and my wife is loving it right now as she reads it. I'm excited to read the next one in the series.
Marlene W. (KansasSunflower) -
Helpful Score: 5
This is the first books in this series and it's great. Funny, laugh out loud sometimes, yet enough legal parts to it to satisfy even a Grissom fan. Love it.
SUSAN S. (susieqmillsacoustics) -
Helpful Score: 4
This was my first book by this author and I am a fan now. I loved the main character-he has a sharp, clever wit. It's a fairly quick read and fast paced from beginning to end. It's a "Grisham" style legal thriller with laughs. Very enjoyable mystery filled with twists. I will definitely be reading more of this author and his Andy Carpenter character.
Helpful Score: 2
I hadn't heard of this author before and this is the second one of his books and I really like his character of Andy Carpenter, he writes with a humor and wit that reminds of the Perry Mason series and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this mystery - and am very excited about it being the first book in a mystery series. I really like the narration style - it is clever and definitely funny. The book made me laugh and kept me guessing until nearly the end about how it would all turn out. I really enjoyed reading this - my only complaint is more about my own schedule than the book - I would have loved to have open and shut it in one sitting only!
Helpful Score: 1
This was a fun read that promises a satisfying series. It so good to find a writer who creates a likable character whom you look forward to meeting again.
Helpful Score: 1
This author's books are written with a great sense of style, literacy and humor. And for us animal lovers, wonderful pets!!!
Helpful Score: 1
#1 Andy Carpenter series. Andy is a defense lawyer in New Jersey who is handling the re-trial of a young black man previously convicted of brutally murdering a young white woman in an alley outside of a bar seven years previously. Willie is on death row, and through information given to Andy by his father, the former District Attorney, the results of the first trial are set aside and a new trial is to begin. When his father dies suddenly and Andy finds himself an unexpected millionaire, he finds that his father's money and the case at hand are tied together in ways no one could have imagined. Excellent, fast-paced read with good characters, decent plotting, just the right amount of humor and a good mystery.
Helpful Score: 1
I was interested in this series because some of the books later in the series seem to indicate that this about a lawyer and his dog, a golden retriever, because the books have images of a golden retriever on the cover. Open and Shut does not have an image of a dog on the front cover. (although some of reprints in paperback do have the dog)
This book is the first book written by David Rosenfelt, and the first in this series. David Rosenfelt used to a marketing president for Tristar pictures. I am glad he gave up that gig for writing.
You can read a book summary elsewhere, but the question remains, is this book worth your time? Oh yes, not only is our writer very humorous, but the mystery in well done. All the books in this series are Wishlisted here on paperbackswaps at this time so there seems to be many readers interested in this series.
I can not wait to read more and find out if the great writing continues, and if the dog plays more of a roll in the future which would explain the dog on the cover of the other books. I read somewhere that David Rosenfelt and his wife have made huge contributions to animal welfare, so I am gathering the dog does play a bigger role.
This book is the first book written by David Rosenfelt, and the first in this series. David Rosenfelt used to a marketing president for Tristar pictures. I am glad he gave up that gig for writing.
You can read a book summary elsewhere, but the question remains, is this book worth your time? Oh yes, not only is our writer very humorous, but the mystery in well done. All the books in this series are Wishlisted here on paperbackswaps at this time so there seems to be many readers interested in this series.
I can not wait to read more and find out if the great writing continues, and if the dog plays more of a roll in the future which would explain the dog on the cover of the other books. I read somewhere that David Rosenfelt and his wife have made huge contributions to animal welfare, so I am gathering the dog does play a bigger role.
Helpful Score: 1
Good book, love a book with twists and turns in it. And any author who includes his dog as a character and does animal rescue has me as a fan. Being part of a series it stands alone but reading Rosenfelt's books in order give you more on the characters history. Tara is a golden and she is smarter than any and everyone, her dad thinks so for sure.;-)
Helpful Score: 1
I love the main character, Andy Carpenter. Good story, well written.
Helpful Score: 1
I give this book 2 thumbs up! - It's fun, funny and suspenseful all wrapped into one awesome book! This is the first in the Andy Carpenter series. It's a really great read...sarcastically funny but not overdone and when things start to really heat up, it's a non-stop page turner.
Helpful Score: 1
First book in the Andy Carpenter series. I loved it! Fast easy read, with interesting characters that really came alive. I love the sarcastic wit of the main character Andy, I was laughing out loud.
Helpful Score: 1
For a first mystery, this is a fun and interesting read. The protagonist is a young lawyer, Andy Carpenter. He takes the case of a man in prison as a favor to his father, who was a D.A. His Dad dies and he continues on with the case. He a likable guy, with a quiky outlook and a fondness for his dog.
I recommend it.
I recommend it.
I like this authors style of writing. The main character, Andy Carpenter, has a quick wit with many funny comments and one-liners throughout the novel. Sometimes too many. This has some excellent twists that really keep you guessing.
This was a fun legal thriller. It really held my interest.
Great book. First in a great series. Love the writers style of writing.
I was apprehensive at first to read this book. Looking at the cover and I see a dog and I know the books is about a lawyer and I am thinking it is going to be one of those books with a talking pet or the owner can read its mind. I do not care for those books. As I started reading I found the main character to be arrogant and annoying but no talking pets. I read more and was drawn into the story and started to enjoy the lawyers colorful banter. The plot is easy to figure out but the story is still enjoyable.
Andy Carpenter Series
1. Open and Shut (2002)
2. First Degree (2003)
3. Bury the Lead (2004)
4. Sudden Death (2005)
5. Dead Center (2006)
6. Play Dead (2007)
7. New Tricks (2009)
8. Dog Tags (2010)
9. One Dog Night (2011)
10. Leader of the Pack (2012)
11. Unleashed (2013)
12. Hounded (2014)
13. Who Let the Dog Out? (2015)
14. Outfoxed (2016)
15. The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (2016)
16. Collared (2017)
Andy Carpenter Series
1. Open and Shut (2002)
2. First Degree (2003)
3. Bury the Lead (2004)
4. Sudden Death (2005)
5. Dead Center (2006)
6. Play Dead (2007)
7. New Tricks (2009)
8. Dog Tags (2010)
9. One Dog Night (2011)
10. Leader of the Pack (2012)
11. Unleashed (2013)
12. Hounded (2014)
13. Who Let the Dog Out? (2015)
14. Outfoxed (2016)
15. The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (2016)
16. Collared (2017)
Very good book. Wasn't quite what I expected,but as I read ,the book became much more interesting.Funny at times,some drama,courtroom scenes interesting.
Unusual and likeable attorney Andy Carpenter searches for the mystey of how/why his father had a big lump sum in his bank account.
There is definitely something in the water of New Jersey because authors with an abundance of wit seem to spring from its soil in gratifying numbers. Brad Parks, Chris Grabenstein, Jeffrey Cohen, Janet Evanovich, and David Rosenfelt... to name a few.
Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter is a first-rate smart mouth with quick wits and a soft heart (just like I like all my heroes). His ex-wife is a spoiled little rich girl who's never found a need to abandon Daddy, and the woman investigator in his law practice wants more commitment from him than Andy's ready to give. No wonder Tara represents his best relationship.
There are two main plot lines in Open and Shut: where Andy's father got that $22 million, and the retrial of Willie Miller, a man who was convicted of a murder he didn't commit. Both are interesting, and how Rosenfelt connects the two is very good. However, the pace is like a yo-yo. Fast. Slow. Fast. Slow. It needed some tightening to keep the book's momentum running smoothly. But this is the first of a long-running series, and since I have a penchant for canines and New Jersey writers, I know I'm going to be back for more.
Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter is a first-rate smart mouth with quick wits and a soft heart (just like I like all my heroes). His ex-wife is a spoiled little rich girl who's never found a need to abandon Daddy, and the woman investigator in his law practice wants more commitment from him than Andy's ready to give. No wonder Tara represents his best relationship.
There are two main plot lines in Open and Shut: where Andy's father got that $22 million, and the retrial of Willie Miller, a man who was convicted of a murder he didn't commit. Both are interesting, and how Rosenfelt connects the two is very good. However, the pace is like a yo-yo. Fast. Slow. Fast. Slow. It needed some tightening to keep the book's momentum running smoothly. But this is the first of a long-running series, and since I have a penchant for canines and New Jersey writers, I know I'm going to be back for more.
Started a little slow for me and I wasn't sure I liked the main characters flippancy. By the end I couldn't put it down, liked the main character very much, and enjoyed the humor thoroughly. Well done, David Rosenfelt!
Very tongue-in-cheek and irreverent, but quite interesting. I went to my library and immediately borrowed another book by same author!
This was my first book to read by Rosenfelt,definintely won't be my last.The characters are very likeable and enjoyable
Loved it!! Well written, good plot, good characters. I'm already reading the 2nd one!
Excellent first mystery about New Jersey lawyer Andy Carpenter.
I have never read any of David Rosenfelt's books before, but I plan to do so as quickly as I can. This book is just what I like in a mystery intricate plot, well developed characters, and humor. The hero is a lawyer, Andy Carpenter, who takes on an appeal case that his father asked him to do before he died. How he works it from a chance that the client might be innocent until he firmly believes he is innocent is an amazing journey. It is well worth reading.
Just simply terrific!
Great book! Fast-paced, twists & turns, a little romance, but not gushy or explicit, just a really good read! Can't wait to read the whole series.
1st in the Andy Carpenter series
