Death of a Wannabe
The Frank May Chronicles by Lawrence Friedman
Review: San Mateo attorney Frank May — "I don't do criminal work" — is drawn into the defense of one of his clients accused of murder in Death of a Wannabe, the first mystery in this series by Lawrence Friedman.
When Barney Bell's wife Blanche is murdered, the first person he calls is Frank. But Frank makes it clear that drawing up a will for someone and defending the same of a felony are two very different things. Frank does the former, not the latter. He refers his client to a criminal defense attorney, who seems willing to plead the case down to something more manageable. But Frank doesn't think Barney did it, indeed, he doesn't think he's even capable of doing it, and starts his own informal investigation in the circumstances surrounding the death of Blanche.
The narrative style of Death of a Wannabe is one of Frank May relating a story to the reader that works surprisingly well. To give a sense of the easy-going tone, here's how the third chapter opens:
I realize that I'm telling this story somewhat out of order. I'm using a bit of flashback technique. You already know that Blanche is dead. You know that Barney called me in the middle of the night, to tell me that somebody killed Blanche — bashed in her head with a bronze statuette. Blanche hasn't made an appearance yet in this story, except as a hearsay corpse.
Much of what Frank relates is in the form of conversations he has with other people. He mostly sticks to the salient — black and white, if you will — points of what transpired, infusing it with brush strokes of subtle humor to give a little color to the story. The case turns out to be something akin to a locked room mystery, with Frank using one of Sherlock Holmes's best known techniques for solving it: when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Seek out this entertaining, cleverly presented mystery.
(Note: The copyright page indicates this is the third mystery in this series, but no information can be found about the first two titles. There are no overt references to previous cases in the narrative, thus it is possible Death of a Wannabe is simply the first of "The Frank May Chronicles" to be published.)
Acknowledgment: Quid Pro Books provided a copy of Death of a Wannabe for this review.
Review Copyright © 2011 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Location(s) referenced in Death of a Wannabe: San Mateo, California
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Death of a Wannabe by Lawrence Friedman
Publisher: Quid Pro Books
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-10: 1-61027-095-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-61027-095-3
Publication Date: August 2011
List Price: $15.99
Synopsis (from the publisher): Frank May practices law, but he's getting by doing only the safe, bland kind — writing wills, forming partnerships, processing papers. Everything far from the seedy adventures of criminal law. But a dead body wakes you up and takes you to places you don't want to be.
A late-night call from frantic client Barney, standing near the corpse of his wannabe-actress wife, drags Frank into the world he had so carefully avoided in his practice. And he is just about the only one who believes that Barney did not murder her. Even Barney's criminal defense attorney has trouble spinning a scenario in which Barney didn't do it. Facing his reluctant task with humor and introspection, Frank sets out to do what he can — and it does not seem like much — to figure out how maybe Barney did not kill his wife.
Unraveling this mystery will not be about gory autopsy, AK47s, car chases, or thuggy ambushes in an alley; that just happens on TV shows or in novels written by ex-pathologists. There is no million-dollar Losteochorotograph to analyze blood splatter patterns. No sneaky courtroom magic tricks. Frank is actually going to have to use his head.