Open Season on Lawyers

Taffy Cannon

Taffy Cannon's sixth novel suffers from one of the silliest names ever given to a book. Don't, however, judge said book by its cover, no matter what is written there; Open Season on Lawyers, despite having some flaws, is a fast-paced, witty romp through the life and detection of a serial killer whom most of us would very much like to be.

As the title tells you, someone's killing lawyers. Their deaths are staged in wonderfully ironic ways (a victim based on the infamous Stella lawsuit is boiled alive in a hot tub; a lawyer who successfully defended a fast food chain against claims of food poisoning dies of botulism, etc.). After the first few, the cops realize they have a serial killer on their hands. Enter tough, plucky (aren't they all?) heroine Joanna Davis and her partner Al Jacobs, trying to track down the killer the press have dubbed The Atterminator.

One thing about Cannon's writing that definitely sticks out is her dry, almost British, wit. The chuckles to be found in these pages have their mirror in the deserts of California. Slapstick this ain't, but a finely-honed sense of irony that never sounds forced. Because of that, it's possible to overlook some of the more predictable parts of the book (the final conflict, for example, can be seen from at least fifty pages away). As well, there is a good deal of technical artistry on the part of the killer; Ms. Cannon has done her research, and done it well. It would seem to behoove the astute reviewer not to ask exactly how well, but there you go.

Balanced against these strong points are the odd cliché now and again, an almost painful sense of stereotyping, and a few niggling habits (one cop, named Quincy Reese, nicknamed Q, is never referred to as Q, or as Reese, but always as Q Reese, for example). Certainly not enough to keep you from picking this up, if you're a mystery fan; Cannon's novels may be just the thing for this year's beach reads, if you haven't discovered her yet.