I gave a fairly tepid review to Paul Levine’s first book featuring the lawyer characters of Stephen Solomon and Victoria Lord, cleverly titled SOLOMON VS. LORD. It wasn’t terrible, but it was riddled with clichés and stock character situations that came directly out of Lifetime Channel movies. Still, in spite of these flaws, the pace of the novel was relentless, and the addition of a tricky custody battle centering around Bobby, the semi-autistic 11-year-old nephew of Stephen, was a strong enough emotional hook to make the reader care about the story.
Now, in this second book of the series, Levine has improved a hundredfold. THE DEEP BLUE ALIBI is a rock-solid mystery novel with decent chunks of courtroom action and with better-established characters. Not having to explain everyone’s story from the ground up prevents Levine from telegraphing the plot, which involves the multimillion dollar development of a floating casino and hotel, situated in a very sensitive coral reef environment. Of course, the developer happens to be a beloved uncle of Victoria Lord, and dear Uncle is the one who is directly implicated in the murder of a federal environmental official.
The bickering between Solomon and Lord matched with the mediating wisdom of Bobby and Solomon’s father, placed against the eccentricities of Lord’s family, fuels the book’s story arc and the growing relationship of our two protagonists. While the plot itself is about a real estate deal gone awry, the joy is in the humanity of the book’s characters, their interactions, their foibles and moments of honor.
The book isn’t perfect. Levine is so fond of brand names you wonder if he’s angling for payola. And the last few scenes are so improbable, even a first-year law student could rip the case to shreds. But it is a good read, and much better than its predecessor. If you like exciting mysteries set in South Florida (think the legions of Carl Hiaasen fans), then you won’t be disappointed. But read DEEP BLUE ALIBI first, and then go back to the first book in the series, because you’ll want to start with the better book – the one that lets its characters be themselves, the one that captures the protagonists’ relationship in full bloom instead of its seedling stage. It’s worth your time. –Mark Rose
Buy it at Amazon.
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