cover image Inherit the Shoes

Inherit the Shoes

E.J. Copperman. Severn, $28.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-7278-9084-9

Former New Jersey prosecutor Sandy Moss, the narrator of this amiable if flawed series launch from Copperman (the Asperger’s mysteries), has relocated to L.A. to take a job with a family law firm, where she gets off to a rocky start. At a divorce negotiation between the firm’s client, TV star Pat McNabb, and McNabb’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Patsy, Sandy speaks out of turn and compromises the client’s position. McNabb, however, is taken with Sandy, and insists she remain on the case. After McNabb is arrested for fatally shooting Patsy with an arrow, she becomes his defense attorney. The evidence against McNabb includes his being found at the scene with blood on his hands, which he claims was the result of his attempt to remove the arrow. While the actor is out on bail, Sandy and McNabb are shot at, his car is blown up, and someone nails a Barbie doll decorated with fake blood to Sandy’s door, along with a message, “Die, Bitch!” The tongue-in-cheek approach jars with the otherwise realistic plot. Copperman has done better. Agent: Josh Getzler, HG Agency. (Jan.)