The Jezebel Remedy

Clark, whose Southern legal thrillers (The Legal Limit) feature a unique blend of intricate plotting and comedy, stumbles in his latest about the fight over a mysterious, and potentially lucrative, chemical compound. Joe and Lisa Stone are an attractive pair of married lawyers in Martinsville, Va., known for their fairness in helping out the townspeople in all manner of disputes. One of their frequent clients is a “legal hypochondriac” and cat lady named Lettie VanSandt, who calls 911 to complain so frequently that the dispatcher has compiled a “Best of” CD of her ravings. VanSandt files endless lawsuits and patent claims, but when her trailer explodes after a visit from representatives of a sinister pharmaceutical company, Benecorp, it seems as if one of her crackpot inventions, a skin balm, may have actually been valuable. As the Stones wade deeper into the case, they each compromise their integrity in an effort to combat a well-funded opponent as skilled at manipulating the legal system as they are. The central plot is thin, the subplots sap the novel’s momentum, the resolution depends less on legal wrangling than luck, and the dialogue lacks Clark’s previous punch: “Great googly moogly... what a hodgepodge of colorful lies. It’s a bushel basket’s worth of deceit and half-truths.” Clark’s concoction could have used some more tinkering in the lab. (June)