First Degree: Number 2 in series (Andy Carpenter) - Tapa blanda

This one...confirms that Rosenfelt will be a force in the legal-thriller world for a long time to come. (BOOKLIST)

Rosenfelt's got it all- canny invention, snappy dialogue, deftly managed legal conflicts, startling surprises-and he displays it all with an economy that should make his courtroom brethren hang their heads in shame. (KIRKUS REVIEWS (Starred REVIEW))

Defense attorney Andy Carpenter is $22 million richer, but still the same guy-a wiseacre of a lawyer whose courtroom antics exasperate judges. The $22 million came from his late father's strange legacy tied into an apparently open-and-shut case. Willie Miller was found standing over the body of a dead woman, knife in hand and bloodied. Only it wasn't so open and shut, and Andy proved Willie innocent. Now, Andy is looking to take some time off and his biggest case at the moment is to find the right charity to bestow with a sizable portion of his fortune. Then a man walks into Andy's office, virtually confessing to the decapitation and cremation of a dirty cop, fully aware of the absolute privilege of attorney-client relations. But when Andy hears that another man, Oscar Garcia, is being charged with this very same murder, he goes out of his way to replace Garcia's public defender. Then, this simple case becomes the case of his life when private investigator-and the love of Andy's life-Laurie Collins becomes the accused. The prosecution claims that she framed Garcia because of a personal vendetta against him and the dirty cop. Andy knows Laurie is incapable of such an act. When the man who originally confessed to the murder turns up dead, Andy knows Laurie's innocent and that this is much bigger. Who framed Oscar Garcia and Laurie? Who killed the murderer and dead man? Now, in the case of his life, Andy must prove Laurie innocent.