Burning March (A Dave Garrett Mystery) - Hardcover

Albert, Neil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525937188 ISBN 13: 9780525937180

Publisher: Dutton, 1994

Synopsis

When his former law firm's bookkeeper is killed in a blaze at the office, Philadelphia private eye Dave Garrett's former boss asks him to try to determine if the fire was an accident. 10,000 first printing.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

Disbarred Philadelphia lawyer-turned-p.i. Dave Garrett (The January Corpse, The February Trouble) responds to a call from Emily Voss, the bookkeeper at his old firm, to find that she's been burned to death in her apartment before she could tell him what the trouble was. Despite the Fire Marshal's lack of interest, Dave knows the fire was set, but who hired the matchlighters? The main suspects are Tom Richardson, Dave's old boss--and Emily's longtime lover and sole legatee--and the firm's lesser fry: Dave's old mentor, Vince DeAndrea, a trial lawyer prone to alcoholic blackouts; assistant managing partner Jerry Huyett, who doesn't mind firing people all that much; Roger Palmer, a labor lawyer with an attitude; Michael Flora, a new associate whose contracting links with certain New Jersey relatives make up for his lack of smarts; and wheelchair-bound Susan Minnik, whom Dave will shortly be taking a close personal interest in. Routine work for Dave, smartly told, with Philadelphia locations as memorable as the characters aren't. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Disbarred lawyer now private detective Dave Garrett, last seen in The February Trouble , works in Philadelphia, where his his ex-wife was involved in his losing his license. The office manager of his former firm, Emily Voss, makes an appointment to meet with Dave and suggests that the firm might need an investigator. But when Dave arrives for the meeting, he finds that Emily has burned to death in her apartment after having uncharacteristically drunk a lot of liquor; he agrees when the senior partner asks him to look into the death. As Dave sifts through the facts of the case, he is struck by the changes in the firm, noting that someone has bugged the offices, the excessive drinking of another partner and the distant behavior of the junior partners and associates. Dave, by running the bases, finally proves that Emily was murdered and why. This mediocre legal mystery breaks no new ground and casts Dave's credibility into doubt, as he agrees, illegally, to close an old colleague's case in court.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0525937188
• ISBN 13: 9780525937180
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256