A Killer's Kiss

Lawyer Victor Carl has driven away the last of his partners and is stooping to stunts to free his clients--like a youth caught up in a drug crackdown. But when his great lost love calls, when she says she's having problems with the man she left him for, when she seems to regret the breakup as much as he still does, Carl thinks he may be on the road back to happiness. There is, Carl believes, one great love in every person's life--a love that, if chance allows, could transform the mundane and make everything right. For Carl, that love is named Julia. But when Julia's husband is found murdered, the police think the case comes down to Julia or Carl. Both have motive--the only thing is, Carl knows he didn't do it and he can't believe that his great love did, either. The police breathing down his neck would be enough problem for most people, but European mobster looking for the money that Julia's husband stole from him shortly before his death piles on. Then there's someone actively trying to frame Carl for the murder--which also puts him in the mobster's target sites. Carl wants to believe Julia is innocent, that the two of them actually have a chance together. And everything looks great when he comes up with an alibi for Julia. But if Julia didn't do it, the cops are sure he did--and that isn't what he had in mind at all. Author William Lashner creates a complex and sympathetic character in Victor Carl, gives him a host of psychological problems, a charming sidekick in the possibly innocent druggie, and a whole range of problems and antagonists--both those who assault him from the front and those who stab him in the back. By appealing to the universal theme of lost love, Lashner gives the story a depth that goes beyond the simple murder/sleuth/solution of an average mystery. There were times when I wanted to shake Carl by the lapels and tell him to wake up and smell the coffee--but it was easy to understand why he had to follow the path he chose. I'm happy to recommend A KILLER'S KISS.

One of my favorite literary passages of recent memory is found at the beginning of PAST DUE, in which a police crime scene is compared to a Nativity display. A KILLER'S KISS, William Lashner's latest novel, contains an equally memorable passage about the ease with which one can fall back into disastrous habits with an old lover. It is this immutable truth that forms the basis for A KILLER'S KISS, as well as for the fall from grace of Victor Carl, Lashner's quietly deteriorating protagonist. Carl has undergone a gradual but inexorable transformation since Lashner introduced him in HOSTILE WITNESS. He has been the antithesis of the stereotypical Philadelphia lawyer; a criminal defense attorney whose clients' collars are dingy rather than white, Carl will do whatever he can to win. His worldview has grown darker and darker with each successive novel, and with A KILLER'S KISS he is circling the drain ever faster and not without assistance. As the book opens, Carl's law partner is on sabbatical, and the firm is being kept financially afloat by a questionable retainer. Carl, therefore, is not only bereft of adult supervision but has the keys to the liquor cabinet to boot. It is against this backdrop that Julia, Carl's ex-fiancée, abruptly comes back into his life, seeking amnesty and something more. For it is on the night that Julia appears on his doorstep, ready to close the deal that she abruptly reneged upon years before, that her husband --- the man she left Carl for --- is murdered. As she and others seem bent upon making him the fall guy, Carl has a difficult time seeing through the fog of his lust that he is being set up by someone who is a step or two ahead of him. Julia's husband, you see, was a urologist --- the final insult, from Carl's viewpoint --- and not a very good one. He accordingly needed other ways of supplementing his income, one of which involved a Russian mobster named Gregor Trocek. And who does Trocek believe has his money? If you guessed Victor Carl, it doesn't mean you're peeking ahead. Carl must extricate himself out from under the veil of suspicion for murder and somehow reunite Trocek with his long-lost money. Luckily, Carl has some assistance from an unlikely source but is caught between Trocek, the law (and some police officers who want very badly to arrest him), and Julia, who may be the most dangerous factor of all. Lashner is incapable of writing badly, and the way that he has handled Carl's subtle deterioration over the course of several novels has been masterful. In addition, he concludes A KILLER'S KISS with an acknowledgment containing a metaphor that is as good as anything he has ever written. Given his continuous upward trajectory, it is hard to escape the feeling that, as good as A KILLER'S KISS and his other books have been, Lashner's best work may still be ahead of him. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Attorney Victor Carl is still hooked on his former girlfriend, Julia, who dumped him years earlier and then married a urologist named Dr. Wren Denniston. When the doctor is shot dead, Victor becomes a prime suspect. A smarter man would try to save himself, but no one would ever accuse Victor of being smart. He still has fantasies that someday he and Julia will be together. "Old love doesn't disappear.... Instead it burrows deep into bone, like a parasite, waiting until just the right moment to reassert itself and sabotage your life." Like the fool that he is, Victor becomes entangled in an intricate web of greed, deceit, and murder, recklessly endangering both his freedom and his life for a woman who betrayed him in the past and may be playing him for a sucker once again. William Lashner's "A Killer's Kiss" is an entertaining takeoff on the noir thrillers in which a femme fatale exploits the men around her for her own dark purposes. Julia's late husband was involved in some shady investment deals and over a million dollars is missing. Was the doctor dispatched for love, money, or both? Victor intends to find out, and during his investigation, he encounters a number of colorful characters: Clarence Swift is Julia's slimy and duplicitous lawyer; Gregor Trockek, a Russian hoodlum whom Denniston cheated, will do whatever it takes to get his money back; and Detectives Sims and Hanratty are like bulldogs who will bust Victor and/or Julia if no other likely suspects materialize. Derek Moats is a wisecracking client of Victor's who ends up as his unofficial and irritating sidekick. The cops, Victor, and the bad guys travel from place to place, furiously tracking down leads, and everyone ultimately converges in one spot for the final showdown. Nothing turns out the way anyone expects, and there are a number of unpleasant surprises in store for most of the major players. "A Killer's Kiss" is hilarious satire, with snappy (and sometimes sappy) dialogue, a ridiculously convoluted plot, and a hapless hero who doesn't know when to leave bad enough alone. Victor Carl is a loveable idiot who ignores the inner voice of reason that tells him to cut his losses and save his neck. He can't help himself. After all, "An old lover is like the lumbago; no matter how free of pain you might feel today, in the small of your back you always know that someday, she'll return."

First, a confession: I have all the books in the Victor Carl series and they all sit here(with the exception of Hostile Witness) half read: they were good, but it was always too much noir and not enough plot or too much plot and not enough noir. And, about 100 pages overweight. But the latest gets it just right: Victor is still ethically challanged; he wisecracks but not as much and when he does, they work and propel the story, rather than distracting from it("In love, as in boxing, it is always dangerous to move up in class"); justice is done which in Victor's world is not the same as what the law demands. And in this latest, Lashner shows a talent for creating interesting and believable secondary characters, with Derek a young African American who I think we will see in the future and Gregor, an eastern European thug. They are not drawn too broadly as in earlier novels(the older Jewish PI in an earlier work was just too much). The acknowledgment page says that Lashner is on hiatus from Victor and will return at some point. I'll look forward to it.

Victor Carl is a lawyer and by his own admittance, not a great one, but I have to say he is probably one of the best characters I have ever read in a mystery novel. What I really love about these books is that you pick up any one of them and jump right into his life. In A Killer's Kiss, Carl is unexpectedly reunited with an old flame. If you know how Victor's life works, this will not be a wondrous reunion, it will in fact turn out the way most of the Philadelphia lawyer's adventures do-badly. Without delay or much hesitation, he finds himself in lust, willing to try it again. This, despite the fact that this former flame left him at the altar years before without explanation. Julia however, is still married and has recently been receiving anonymous and openly threatening letters she has incorrectly attributed to Carl. She suggests that they meet, shows Victor the letters and which he explains are not from him. The meeting goes sour when Victor lashes at her verbally about why she left him. She leaves, but the meeting don't stop. The love they had seems to rekindle, at least in Victor's shameless mind. Julia calls him one night from outside his building and asks if she can come up. Thinking he has a chance to re-consummate the relationship, he agrees. Shortly after her arrival, there is a knock on the door. In his hallway are two Philadelphia police detectives, who want to question Victor about the murder of Julia's husband, only two hours ago. This story is intricately spun as all Lashner novels are. With disparate, yet parallel plot lines and a unique set of characters that leave the reader wondering how all this will mesh in the end. In A Killer's Kiss Lashner has perfected in Victor Carl, a character whose sarcastic wit you will love to read. He is the perpetual underdog looking for that one big case that will bring notoriety, and financial happiness. Unfortunately, Victor continuously seems to put his life in danger to achieve his goals. A Killer's Kiss is no exception. Armchair Interviews says: Lashner's wit and cynicism are still there, and they are as fresh as the first Victor Carl novel. You WILL laugh out loud!