The fourth novel in Walker's Malachy (that's Mala-key) Foley series (Fixed in His Folly, etc.) takes a while to warm up, but once it's got up a head of steam, it moves nicely along. Chicago-based Malachy is a man of great principle or is simply pig-headed, depending on how you look at it. Years ago when he used to be a lawyer, he promised a client that he wouldn't reveal a confidence. Although the court ruled that under the circumstances the attorney-client privilege didn't apply, Malachy refused to go back on his word. The court took his license to practice law, but Malachy wasn't particularly upset (and he found he liked playing private eye). But when he later petitions to have his license reinstated, the case comes back to haunt him. On the one hand, someone is determined to discourage him with threats; on the other, it seems that some people in high places want to help his case for no good reason. It all comes back to an old drug deal gone bad, one that got three crooked cops shot while someone who was involved made off with a half-million dollars and a load of cocaine. Whoever it was thinks Malachy knows too much, but Malachy would be content to forget everything that is, until a friend of his winds up nearly beaten to death and his principles get the better of him again. This may not be the best in the series, but it's still a solid read. Agent, Jane Jordan Browne. (Mar. 25)(Forecasts, Nov. 6, 2000) and other novels in the Wild Onion, Ltd., series.
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From Booklist
A threatening letter featuring a squashed spider has a bracing effect on ex-lawyer, current Chicago private eye, and sometime jazz pianist Malachy Foley. Until the arachnid caught his eye, Foley was half-heartedly pursuing a renewal of his law license as a promise to his now-vanished lady love. But the spider and the threat move him to stay the course out of sheer cussedness. As Foley proceeds, so do the threats, escalating to acts of vandalism and, finally, to murder. Walker has a gift for atmosphere--his Chicago, encompassing downtown with the University of Chicago on the south and Northwestern University to the north, is vividly rendered without being painted solely in "private eye noir." He also has a gift for action that takes sudden, startling, but eminently credible turns. His detective, however, is a bit off, coming across more as an immature teen than a hard-bitten grown-up. In its fourth installment, this series may not have quite found its groove, but it's coming close. Connie Fletcher
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