Bill Kent Street Legal

Street Legal

Bill Kent

Dunne, Jun 2006, $24.95

ISBN 0312328850

Near the Hot Lead Club, Philadelphia Press' Mr. Action columnist twenty-two years old Amazonian reporter Andrea "Andy" Cosicki saw the murder of attorney Charles "Sandman" Muckler first hand. Known for "pouring sand into the legal machinery", the Sandman sat in his vehicle as it filled with sand.

After a police interview, Andy asks her mentor sexagenarian obit writer Shep Ladderback if he knew the victim; he responds that he heard of the late attorney and then the agoraphobic offers her an assignment to investigate the Delaware Valley Law Watch. Founded by Schuyler Nordvahl, the Watch maintains a list of attorneys they feel cross the ethical line. Shep believes that the watch is not just suing lawyers for malpractice; he thinks they are maintaining a killing list that bars attorneys permanently. Andy knows better than to accept a Shep assignment that always leads to places she does not want to go, but the reporter still makes inquiries starting with asking who Sir Edward Coke was.

STREET LEGAL is a fine entry in the eccentric Cosicki-Ladderback investigative journalism series. The relationship between Andy and Shep remains fresh as he encourages her to be the best reporter on the beat and she promotes his going outside to see the sites of the city even on a "bleak afternoon". Andy's inquiries are fun to follow though the victims never seem more like cartoon versions of stereotypical shyster lawyers manipulating the system. Still fans will enjoy the latest Cosicki-Ladderback thriller.

Harriet Klausner