That Left Turn at Albuquerque

In this lackluster crime novel from Edgar finalist Phillips (The Ice Harvest), financially strapped Southern California attorney Douglas Rigby has stolen thousands from the account of his sole client, aged former TV producer Glenn Haskill, and is desperate to find some way of replacing the funds before his theft is detected. His initial plan—to profit from a drug deal with a gang known as the Devil’s Hammers—fails after his less-than-sharp go-between hands over the product without getting the agreed-upon cash in return. That screwup leads to violence and only places Rigby further behind the eight ball, even as his real estate broker wife, who knows what’s going on and has made few recent sales, fears that losing their home will make her a pariah in her field. Rigby comes up with another scheme, centered on art fraud that would also victimize Haskill, but the details don’t generate much excitement. Nothing invites any empathy for Rigby, whose multiple sins include marital infidelity. Phillips has been more successful in the past in making readers engage with repellent leads. (Mar.)