Wow! Kathy scored, if not a homerun, a solid three-base hit. Up until now I've found most of her mysteries readable. Not so David Rosenfelt's Dead Center. I liked it; I REALLY liked it. The plot was interesting. The solution might have felt a bit "tacked on" or forced, but it was prepared for and therefore believable. The characters were interesting and distinctive. Mostly, though, I admit to being easily seduced by humor. Examples:
1) The narrator describes two of his friends. "They remind me of Abbott and Costello, but with less dignity." (page 19) That was the first time I laughed out loud.
2) He describes his office. "It looks like it was decorated in early Holiday Inn, during a chambermaid strike." (page 26) It's the unexpected detail that does it for me.
3) His law partner "opened the Law-dromat, an establishment that offers free legal advice to customers while their clothes are washing and drying." (page 29)
I could point our many, many more humorous spots that won me over, but I'll just say I was still grinning on an every-other-page basis by the end of the book.
I also like writers who can make me think how true something is or wonder how come I never noticed it. "Taking out car keys is a nonverbal way people say, 'I gotta get out of here.' I do it all the time; sometimes I'll take them out even if I haven't driven to the meeting." (page 61) Cool.
But Miss Picky was sitting on my shoulder and, of course, found things to complain about.
1) "I keep waiting for Aunt Bea to appear with homemade apple pie and ice cream." (page 55) Only Aunt Bee I know spells her name Bee. Come on. Martha, how picky can you get? Okay. Fine. I admit that not everyone has been lucky enough to stumble upon an online newsletter devoted to reruns of The Andy Griffith Show, and I might have forgiven him the misspelling if his narrator hadn't later bragged about his knowledge of small-town life by saying "I used to watch The Andy Griffith Show." (page 86) Somehow that makes me think he should have known. After all, everyone on the online newsletter does.
2) On this second one I totally agree with Miss Picky. A murder is described where the neck was so twisted that the head almost came off. "'Linda Blair,' I say referring to the head-turning star of The Exorcist." (page 193) IMNOHO, it's a bad idea to explain humor. If a reader doesn't get it, nothing's lost. If the reader does get it, his first thought is likely to be: how stupid does this author think I am? How much better it is to have the get-it reader thinking: what an obscure reference; how clever I am to catch it.
Anyway, I liked the book, I plan on reading the other three he has written, and I'll keep an eye out for any more he writes.
