): This book is touted as “Hiaasen meets Grisham.” The only comparisons to Hiaasen that I could see are it’s location in the Florida Keys and a sense of humor. The only common ground with Grisham is that it’s about lawyers. Paul Levine has a writing style of his own, miles away from wacky, yet infused with good humor. Levine’s characters are the people that Grisham and Hiaasen, Dorsey, et al. have been sniggering at.Steve Solomon was a difficult sell as the male romantic lead, embodying too many annoying traits that romance heroes never have: a proclivity for pithy tee-shirts, a Jimmy Buffet addiction, he owns an ancient Cadillac, and he’s a slimy criminal defense attorney. Victoria is the kind of female lead we’ve come to expect from male authors who like women: strong, stylish, intelligent, literate, beautiful, and successful. Plus, she’s got mother issues and other vulnerabilities, so she’s easy to like. So is Steve’s surrogate son, his nephew Bobby, a 12-year-old genius with a rapier wit. Victoria’s mother, the Queen, could have been a Park Avenue nightmare but instead came through with touching humanity. There were many more characters in a multitude of small roles: Steve’s ex-judge dad and his cronies; Lexy and Rexy, the calorie-counting opportunists; Delia Bustamante, the sexy Cuban restaurateur; Hal Griffin, Victoria’s surrogate uncle and millionaire developer; and his Adonislike son, Junior, a free diver and distance swimmer. These are people we get to know, even if the appearance they make is brief. All are delightfully well drawn, save Junior, who vacillates between being an all right, intelligent guy and a bimbo who can’t sit still in court.What sets Levine apart from the writers he’s compared to is that this book is about the lawyers interacting with the people behind the story, and are set apart from the actual events themselves. It works, though, since the book has a different spin, which is to let Steve Solomon charm our socks off while getting us to like him in spite of everything there is not to like.Though wrapped around a murder mystery, this book is about characters, which is never a bad thing. As Victoria and Steve go about figuring out who really killed Ben Stubbs in order to defend Hal Griffin, the fun is more in meeting the people along the way than in what’s going on. It bogs the book down a little bit, time seeming to drag every now and then, but a little shot of adrenaline could have perked things up. All in all, this was an entertaining South Florida murder mystery…but not a crime caper.
This sequel to Solomon vs. Lord is as funny and interesting as the first book. She's ivy-league-law-review-pearl-earrings-couture-clothes-and-good-breeding and he's a Jimmy-Buffett-parrothead-immature-slacker lawyer. He's got tricks up his sleeve and she's earnest and idealistic. When they met it was sparks and passion. Now they've been together for awhile and she feels their differences keenly. He's an uncomplicated guy and pretty clueless when it comes to women (who aren't strippers or whores) in general and Victoria Lord in particular.She wants more autonomy and recognition for fine work at the law. The book opens with her trying to figure out a way to tell him she wants to practice law solo. Into their lives comes a childhood friend who needs a high powered lawyer to help him beat the murder charge. With her "uncle" comes her childhood sweetheart who happens to be stone cold handsome with a physique to match (a very funny scene at a nudist colony proved his endowments!).Solomon is working on getting his father's license to practice law restored. Separately, they both discover many things about his father and her mother that they never imagined. And they survive the experience in a novel that is an excellent mystery and with great chemistry between two mis-matched people.
What do You think about The Deep Blue Alibi (2006)?
Enjoyed this book very much. Maybe not quite as good as Solomon vs. Lord, but very close. The two main characters are great, and the secondary characters are well defined. The mystery was very good and kept me guessing until the end. The book spent a lot of time on Steve Solomon's relationship with his father and his father's background. He was trying to get his dad's license to practive law restored, but his father was opposed, which led Steve to investigate his father's time as a judge and his relationship with the prosecutor who filed the false charges that led to his resignation. Victoria Lord had her own family issues. The case at hand involved an old friend of the family who is accused of murder. It brings the man's son back into her life and causes problems between her and Steve. She also has to deal with the appearance of her mother and the true story behind the suicide of her father many years ago. The various cases and their links kept the story moving and fun.
—John
Paul Levine, who set up the Bickersons-at-law pairing of Miami legal shark Steve Solomon and by-the-book ex-prosecutor Victoria Lord in the book "Solomon vs. Lord," takes his dueling duo down to the Keys and out to sea for their second outing. All in all, it's a more successful and coherent book that results as the pair struggles with past scandals involving their own parents as well as a tricky murder case. The case focuses on their representation of an unscrupulous developer who's the sole survivor of a boat crash and who may have killed the only other man on board, an EPA official on the take who was crucial to the developer's plans -- until someone shot a speargun at his chest. There are some very funny scenes along the way, including a trip to a nudist colony to interview Victoria's onetime boyfriend whom Steve is trying to pin the murder rap on instead of their client. And unlike their last case, this one has a satisfying resolution. I'll definitely read the next one in the series to see where it goes next.
—Craig Pittman
Paul Levine has done it again! The Deep Blue Alibi, the second in the Solomon and Lord series, is as fast and fun as the first one.Levine is the master of South Florida mysteries. When his characters are dining at Norman's in Coral Gables, I felt like I were there tasting the rum-painted grouper and sipping champagne. When they drive down to the Keys, I can feel the sea breeze in my hair. His banter between Steve and Victoria is fresh and fires back and forth between the two leads so that you are not sure who to root for more. I love the dynamic between these two characters. This is an easy read that I had trouble putting down. I'm looking forward to more by this author and have already ordered number three in this series.Victoria Allmanauthor of: SEAsoned: A Chef's Journey with Her Husband
—Victoria Allman
