Killing the Lawyers

Rating:
Summary: Reginald Hill delivers another good read
Review: Private Investigator Joe Sixsmith is irate that his automobileinsurance company could so devalue his wrecked car. Joe visits his lawyer,who tells him to go to a specialist in motor insurance cases. Joe travels to the posh law firm of Poll-Pott only to be accosted by a female attorney and treated like dirt by a contemptuous lawyer, Peter Potter. A disgusted Joe leaves the law firm, shouting nasty epithets at the lawyers.

Later that day, Peter is found murdered and initially Joe is a suspect because he had the motive, the means, and perhaps the opportunity. However, because of the means (a broken neck twsited by an expert), the police realize Joe could not have committed the crime. Meanwhile, Joe is hired to check into threats aimed at an internationally famous athlete. However, when another Poll-Pott lawyer is murdered, another partner in the firm hires Joe to investigate the killings. Suddenly, Joe, not noted for his ambition, has two headline cases to investigate.

Although not written as well as Reginald Hill's other two detective series (Daziel and Pascoe), the Sixsmith novels have their own charm and in some ways are much more fun to read than Hill's other books. Joe is an eccentric sleuth, whose basic honesty seems to get him in all sorts of trouble. Being a black person in a small English town also does not help his overall standing, especially with local law enforcement. The recurring secondary characters are all top rate players, who readers will love, especially the way they treat and react to Joe. KILLING THE LAWYERS, like its two predecessors (BLOOD SYMPATHY and BORN GUILTY) is a humorous who-done-it that is worth reading because of its entertaining cast and story line.

Harriet Klausner