The Dead Hand (Attorney Rachel Gold Mysteries, 10) - Softcover

Kahn, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1464206791 ISBN 13: 9781464206795

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2016

Synopsis

St Louis lawyer Rachel Gold deals with many a family drama, mostly of the dysfunctional variety. Divorce. Paternity. And death. Occasionally, all three combine into a "dead hand" trifecta, where the deceased seeks to control the living―and especially his descendants―from beyond the grave.

Rachel calls them "zombies." The legal term for such inheritance plans is "the dead hand," the English translation of the Old French term "mortmain." The term refers to the attempt by wealthy individuals to exert perpetual ownership over property (and future generations) through legal documents prepared before they die. But not even the most obsessed tycoon or his skilled attorneys can foresee every future contingency. To quote the old Yiddish maxim, "Man plans, and God laughs." And angry descendants sue.

It's so true. Rachel suddenly finds herself representing two women―one a young widow, one an older divorcee―in a pair of nasty zombie cases where the outcome of each hinges upon a clause in a contested estate plan.

Client Cyndi Mulligan is the trophy widow of the late Bert Mulligan, a billionaire entrepreneur whose last will and testament left his estate to Cyndi's unborn daughter. The challenge comes from Bert's angry first wife and her angrier only son. Their claim: Cyndi's daughter―born eleven months after Bert's death―cannot possibly be Bert's child.

In the other case, Rachel represents Marsha Knight, the first wife of the wealthy founder of a women's lingerie manufacturer. Marsha has been sued by his young widow, who seeks to invalidate Marsha's divorce settlement and, in the process, impoverish her through invocation of the ancient and nearly inscrutable Rule Against Perpetuities.

As the trial date approaches in each lawsuit, the threats to Rachel and her two clients begin to escalate. Zombies, as Rachel discovers, are hard to kill. And even worse, they can still kill―and where least expected.

The Dead Hand is written with the verve, humor, and legal smarts that are trademark Michael Kahn.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Kahn is a trial lawyer by day and an author at night. He wrote his first novel, Grave Designs, on a challenge from his wife Margi, who got tired of listening to the same answer whenever she asked him about a book he was reading. "Not bad," he would say, "but I could write a better book than that." "Then write one," she finally said, "or please shut up." So he shut up-no easy task for an attorney-and then he wrote one.

Kahn is the award-winning author of: seven Rachel Gold novels; an eighth novel, The Mourning Sexton, under the pen name Michael Baron; and several short stories.

In addition to his day job as a lawyer, he is an adjunct professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, where he teaches a class on censorship and free expression. Married to his high school sweetheart, he is the father of five and the grandfather of, so far, four.

Review:

As compelling as it is genuinely funny, a dash of romance may enter the field when Rachel’s mother delivers the dream of every matchmaking yenta. A practicing trial attorney, Michael A. Kahn is one of the few authors who continues to make courtroom scenes absolutely delightful. (Cynthia Chow Kings River Lite)

I had not read the other Rachel Gold novels; I'll certainly look for Kahn again. Try this if you like complex legal thriller/mysteries. (Kathleen Gray NetGalley)

“The Dead Hand” is better than most mystery novels, with its engaging characters and a page-turning pacing that holds the reader’s attention from start to finish. (Robert A Cohn St Louis Jewish Light)

Readers who enjoy legal procedurals will find the complex reasoning involved in these cases satisfying. Kahn, a lawyer with a good sense of humor, uses a light touch to make complicated points of law accessible and even enjoyable as mystery fare. (Barbara Bibel Booklist)

A good sense of humor sneaks in there once in a while. This is the tenth in the Rachel Gold series and Kahn is an accomplished writer. (Mary Ann Smyth Bookloons)

St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold lands not one but two cases that feature trouble arising from beyond the grave. Both cases spring gorgeous plot twists that keep recasting the hapless litigants in new and ever more unflattering roles. Both are ripe with the promise of legal and ethical complications that Kahn seizes with unholy glee. (Kirkus Reviews)

About this edition

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1464206791
• ISBN 13: 9781464206795
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240