Murder on the Rebound: An Amicus Curiae Mystery

by Jeffrey Miller

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ISBN-10: 1-55022-793-9

ISBN-13: 978-1-55022-793-2

6 x 9 in, 288pp, paperback

$19.95 CAD

October 2007

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reviews

Ellery Queen (March/April 2008)

Kirkus Reviews (September 2007)

Globe and Mail (September 2007)

Rainbo Electronic Reviews (November 2007)

Price: $19.95

“Hemlock for Herskowitz!” That’s what the students write in the law school toilets about Professor Mack Herskowitz. Herskowitz (aka “Jerk–o–Twit”) runs his classes like a Marine drill sergeant. He’s bedding one budding lawyer — a former exotic dancer he helped get into the school — but the rest seem to want him dead. And that’s before Herskowitz’s mouthiest critic, first–year law student Tony Albinoni, is poisoned in the professor’s penthouse. Could that “hemlock” have been meant for Jerk–o–Twit?

That’s the newest mystery for Amicus, Q.C. (Questing Cat), and his companion human, judge Ted Mariner. All the while, they’re in a spot of bother of their own, exiled by the Chief Justice to the Mervin Goldfarb and Estelle Holstein–Goldfarb School of Law at Scarborough University. There was Justice Mariner’s very public wrestling match, you see, with Justice Hernando Cactus in the trendy Pasta La Vista restaurant. And then there was that day the not–quite–ancient Mariner passionately smooched his articling student in a rundown bar in the cocaine district.

It’s classic, uproarious Amicus, scrabbling and bustling with feline twists, turns, and shin’s–eye–view witticisms about our justice system in particular and the human tragicomedy in general. Once again, the Falstaffian courthouse cat narrates a seriously funny (and profoundly serious) tale in which the truth is not always what it seems, in death as well as life.

“Smart and amusing . . . Amicus has his purr–suasive ways.”

— Margaret Cannon, the Globe and Mail

Mar 31

Chuck North

Are you sure you don't mean John MORTIMER, rather than Miller? If so, I have read Rumpole's Last Case most recently and enjoyed it, but this isn't a 'cat who? mystery which prompted my initial review. My point above about researching is well taken. In a private communication with author Miller he admitted to having not read any Lillian Jackson Braun, Rita Mae Brown or Carol Nelson Douglas stories which is okay. But he went on to say that he felt his books may have been different from the above because he had done something innovative by making the cat the narrator of the story. Actually, they're not. Rita Mae Brown introduced this innovation over 10 years ago with her Mrs. Murphy (the cat) series. It's great 'cat who?' writing and she's consistently on the NY Times bestseller lists along with Braun (the all time best selling 'cat who?' writer and the originator of the genre)as well as Douglas and HER feline narrator Midnight Louis. I'm surprised as publishers you wouldn't have at least been aware of the compettion in this incredibly popular area of entertaining fiction. My remarks were not directed personally at author Miller and represent only my views. You should link the review you quote above so people can judge for themselves. Chuck North

Submitted by ECW Guest on Tue, 2009-03-31 11:00.

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    [comment] => Are you sure you don't mean John MORTIMER, rather than Miller? If so, I have read Rumpole's Last Case most recently and enjoyed it, but this isn't a 'cat who? mystery which prompted my initial review. My point above about researching is well taken. In a private communication with author Miller he admitted to having not read any Lillian Jackson Braun, Rita Mae Brown or Carol Nelson Douglas stories which is okay. But he went on to say that he felt his books may have been different from the above because he had done something innovative by making the cat the narrator of the story. Actually, they're not. Rita Mae Brown introduced this innovation over 10 years ago with her Mrs. Murphy (the cat) series. It's great 'cat who?' writing and she's consistently on the NY Times bestseller lists along with Braun (the all time best selling 'cat who?' writer and the originator of the genre)as well as Douglas and HER feline narrator Midnight Louis. I'm surprised as publishers you wouldn't have at least been aware of the compettion in this incredibly popular area of entertaining fiction. My remarks were not directed personally at author Miller and represent only my views. You should link the review you quote above so people can judge for themselves. Chuck North

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Mar 25

Chuck North

I'm a big fan of the Cat Who books (read all more than once) as well as Rita Mae Brown and Carol Nelson Douglas's Midnight Louis series. It's not the only thing I read but I do enjoy them for relaxation and entertainment. I got a copy of Murder On The Rebound and I'm sorry to say I found little or nothing to recommend in it. The characters are disengaging, the dialogue is unrealistic and pompous, the humour struck me as silly rather than funny and the story line, compared with any of the authors I mentioned above, is thin and lacking in suspense. It may or may not have 'literary' value to some minds but that's not why I read these books. LJB can write circles around this guy. He should research what he's up against if he wants to be taken seriously. I did read it to the end in the hope it would redeem itself but alas the story was "murdered" on the rebound. I lent it to a friend yesterday without comment and got it back after two chapters. I don't know why it was glowingly reviewed because for a 'cat who?' fanatic it's just bulls**t. My email is northernchuck@execulink.com if you wish to contact me though I won't hold my breath.

Submitted by ECW Guest on Wed, 2009-03-25 10:26.

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    [comment] => I'm a big fan of the Cat Who books (read all more than once) as well as Rita Mae Brown and Carol Nelson Douglas's Midnight Louis series. It's not the only thing I read but I do enjoy them for relaxation and entertainment. I got a copy of Murder On The Rebound and I'm sorry to say I found little or nothing to recommend in it. The characters are disengaging, the dialogue is unrealistic and pompous, the humour struck me as silly rather than funny and the story line, compared with any of the authors I mentioned above, is thin and lacking in suspense. It may or may not have 'literary' value to some minds but that's not why I read these books. LJB can write circles around this guy. He should research what he's up against if he wants to be taken seriously. I did read it to the end in the hope it would redeem itself but alas the story was "murdered" on the rebound. I lent it to a friend yesterday without comment and got it back after two chapters. I don't know why it was glowingly reviewed because for a 'cat who?' fanatic it's just bulls**t. My email is northernchuck@execulink.com if you wish to contact me though I won't hold my breath.

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Mar 25

We sent Mr. Miller's book to

We sent Mr. Miller's book to publications who regularly review mystery titles. A handful of those publications assigned the book for review to a mystery book reviewer who they believed would be an objective judge of the book's merits. Notably, reviewers drew favourable comparisons with John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey instead of the Cat Who writers you've mentioned. Curious to know if Rumpole is something you enjoyed or not.

Submitted by simon on Wed, 2009-03-25 16:04.

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