Andy Carpenter doesn’t have a web page or any large-scale advertising, but if he did, his law firm’s motto would certainly be “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Andy is the fictional trial lawyer created by author David Rosenfelt, whose OUTFOXED is the 14th installment in his series. Each case follows a now fairly standard plot line with a full cast of familiar and recurring characters.

Andy is an independently wealthy attorney whose financial status offers him the ability to pick and choose the clients he will represent in court. He maintains an office staff that includes an expert in computer espionage and Marcus, a man of few words but extraordinary physical strength and bravery. In previous volumes, Andy also met and married his wife, Laurie, and the couple adopted Ricky, who is now a third-grade student. And, of course, there are the dogs. Every Andy Carpenter novel involves canines. Rosenfelt has rescued 25 golden retrievers over his lifetime, and his passion for dogs is often a cornerstone of the plots of these mysteries.

"Throughout the pages of OUTFOXED, David Rosenfelt maintains a light and humorous touch with fast-paced action and snappy repartee."

In OUTFOXED, Andy’s client is Brian Atkins, a computer executive who Andy has met through a program in which prison inmates help train rescue dogs. Brian is serving a prison sentence in a minimum security facility for computer fraud, but shockingly uses the dog he is training to escape from incarceration and is arrested the next day for the murder of his wife and the former associate whose testimony helped convict him of fraud. Having worked with him and observed his treatment of rescue dogs, Andy simply refuses to believe that Brian is capable of a brutal double homicide. Believing that a good person is innocent is the number one requirement for a client of Andy’s. Brian meets that test, and Andy’s legal team goes to work.

If you have read any previous novels in this series, you understand that Brian, in the tradition of Andy’s clients, will not be convicted of the charges he faces. Andy does more than obtain acquittals, though. In the spirit of Perry Mason, he finds the actual killer. Over the course of his career, he has become quite friendly with numerous law enforcement sources, some of which are local, others of which are with the FBI. Part of his ability in cultivating his sources comes from his wife’s previous law enforcement experience, as well as his willingness to provide and trade information. And the fact that he is always happy to pick up bar and restaurant tabs doesn’t hurt. His efforts to identify the true murderer in this case lead to the world of computer gambling and information gathering. It also brings Andy and his family dangerously close to underworld connections who want him off the case and do not care how that is accomplished.

Throughout the pages of OUTFOXED, David Rosenfelt maintains a light and humorous touch with fast-paced action and snappy repartee. While the author is not an attorney, his courtroom scenes are marked by appropriate procedures and dialogue. Andy knows just how far to go in a courtroom and often walks perilously close to the line of contempt, but he does it with style. This series continues to be entertaining, heartwarming and delightful to read.