The Jezebel Remedy, by Martin Clark

Joe and Lisa Stone are lawyers, married twenty years, and in practice together. They have an extremely eccentric client, Lettie VanSandt, who dies in a fire at her home in very strange circumstances.

As this legal mystery unfolds, we learn that there is a lot more to Lettie and her world than anyone expected.

The characters in this book are pretty good. Joe Stone may be just a little bit too manly and perfect to be believed, and Lisa smokes so much that reading this book I found myself having psychosomatic bronchitis.

The setting is rural Virginia, and there are a lot of pleasant home-town characters that support Lisa and Joe when things get rough. There is also an evil pharmaceutical corporation with an amoral leader who is very easy to despise. I never mind seeing that industry put in a bad light.

There are plot elements included that might have been done without. I don't want to spoil the enjoyment of the book for anyone by being specific here, but perhaps a more aggressive editor would be good for Mr. Clark.

The mystery itself is functional. I do think the resolution was just a little bit too facile, but I didn't mind. I enjoyed this book and read it in about a day.

Martin Clark is a Virginia circuit-court judge, according to the book jacket. This is interesting, as there is a very likable judge character in this book, named Klein. He has other books, one is Legal Limit, which I may look for.

Body of Evidence, by Patricia Cornwell

An audio book.

Kay Scarpetta is the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Virginia. In this novel, Scarpetta is drawn into the case of the murder of a young novelist and her mentor. The setting is mostly the Richmond VA area, and some in Key West.

Good commuting entertainment.

The time setting is approximately late 80s. It's interesting to note the lack of cell phones, and the non-ubiquity of computers, although computers are used to some degree by the law enforcement agencies. The FBI is involved.