I'm a little in love. His name is Andy Carpenter. He's a defense attorney in New Jersey. He's got money, millions he just recently inherited, and that gives him the freedom to only take cases he believes in. He's also got baggage: an ex-wife. He has a smart mouth and a rebellious streak that gets him in trouble at times but endears him to me. Best of all, he's into rescuing and re-homing shelter dogs and can't go very long without mentioning his golden retriever, Tara.
Andy is the creation of David Rosenfelt, the centerpiece of a series of legal thrillers. I just started Book #3 in a series of 26 and counting. I enjoy them as much for Andy as I do for the courtroom drama.
Before Andy there was Archie Goodwin. I had a mad crush on him. I know what Archie did for a living, but I'm not sure what to call his occupation. He worked for genius detective Nero Wolfe as ... appointment secretary, bookkeeper, and private investigator. He was as smart as he was versatile. Next to his photographic memory, his greatest gift was annoying people in positions of power. I loved how he genuinely loved women and could find something attractive in just about every female he met -- her shapely ankle or turned up nose or maybe a note he hears in her voice or an intelligence in her eyes. I wondered how he would describe me.
Rex Stout gave me Archie. Robert Goldsborough took over the Nero Wolfe series in the 1980s and for the most part has maintained Archie's integrity and attitude.
Both Andy and Archie love baseball. I love baseball. Sigh.
What about you? Are there any characters from a continuing series that you especially enjoy spending time with?
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I've been hearing about the Andy Carpenter series recently, and it is somewhere on my massive TBR mountain range. Good to hear you like it as well.
ReplyDeleteThe series has used the same voice actor to narrate--so I have a specific voice of Andy in my head. The audio versions are so much fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation; I was looking for something new for my husband to read when he has his hip replaced later in June. I loved Sue Grafton's books; I miss those.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time, I think I had a secret hankering for Ranger from the Janet Evanovich series of mysteries. He definitely has mysterious-guy appeal.
ReplyDeleteBoth of these series sound great.