Leader of the Pack: Andy Carpenter    by David Rosenfelt Order:  USA  Can Minotaur, 2013 (2013) Hardcover, Softcover, CD, e-Book     Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Leader of the Pack is the tenth in David Rosenfelt's highly popular Andy Carpenter series of light legal mysteries. Carpenter is a very wealthy lawyer who doesn't like to work. He's romantically involved with crack investigator Laurie Collins, partnered with ex-death row inmate Willie Miller in a dog rescue operation, and loves his golden retriever Tara. As this episode opens, Laurie encourages Andy to 'take Tara to the hospital as a therapy dog', which Tara turns out to be extraordinarily good at. After this he visits the prison to console former clients who ended up with a guilty verdict. He actually believes that one of them is innocent - Joey Desimone, son of crime lord Carmine, was convicted of the murder of Richard and Karen Solarno. When Joey asks Andy to take Tara to visit his uncle Nick, a mob hit man suffering from dementia, Andy reluctantly agrees. Nicky Fats dies soon after rambling on about the Solarnos during that visit. Not believing in coincidences, and concerned that he did not vet Richard Solarno more thoroughly at the time of the trial, Andy starts digging himself into trouble. Laurie helps as always, but when Andy decides to head to Montana to look into an arms dealing link between Solarno and militia groups there, she puts her foot down and sends Marcus Clark as bodyguard. Marcus is not very talkative but his skills are legendary. He deals with a mob hit man and angry militia members with ease. The fact that the arms dealing link was not disclosed gives Andy a reason to request a retrial, and it proceeds. As it does, more people die and one of Andy's employees is kidnapped. After they link the case to South American drug cartels, there's a natural disaster in Peru that results in a massive international relief effort. What does this have to do with the Solarno case? You'll have to read Leader of the Pack to find out, but it's a sound mystery with a twisty ending that fans will appreciate. What I like most about this legal series is Rosenfelt's portrayal of the relationships in the circle of Andy's friends, and their droll dialog. Great fun! Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews