We are delighted to welcome author Janet Kole to Omnimystery News today.
Janet's first in her "Odd Fellows" series is titled The Smell of Money (Vinson Books; February 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we asked her how a successful attorney came to be writing mystery books. She titles her guest post for us today, "From the Ridiculous To The Sublime".
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Photo provided courtesy of
Janet Kole
A few years ago, I discovered that I don't like practicing law any more. I used to love my work and my clients. But the days are gone when providing legal advice is a service. Now, it is a business, and a cutthroat one at that.
In order to do something about my dissatisfaction, I transformed myself into a full-time writer. I retired from my mid-size law firm, and decided to write and sell books. I've never regretted my decision for a minute.
After 30 years of practicing law, mostly in big firms, I became a stay at home writer. I write humorous but serious guides for young lawyers. I also just published my second novel, the first in what will be a continuing series. I dropped every bar membership and every bar association membership (except, of course, the American Bar Association). I no longer have Continuing Legal Education requirements, and I no longer practice law. Do I miss being a lawyer? God, no.
Before I retired from the practice of law, I was tempted to murder some of my law partners. I believe they returned the favor. Living in a big firm is like being part of some incredibly dysfunctional family, and the passions aroused in the lawyer's breast are not unlike those aroused in the heart of an abused spouse.
Most lawyers, however, don't kill each other. Our weapons are usually words. And I think we can all attest to the fact that the old rubric about "sticks and stones" is wrong. Words can hurt you. But they are rarely fatal.
So after over 30 years of practicing law, and watching the profession I love devolve into a form of insanity, I retired. With relief. And I transmuted what I have witnessed over the years into fiction, in a mystery novel, Suggestion of Death, published in 2011. Not surprisingly, in that book, lawyers murder each other. I exorcised that murderous feeling after it was published, but discovered that I have the chops for writing mysteries. My second novel, The Smell of Money, was published earlier this year, and this time the hero is a lawyer.
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Janet Kole graduated from Bryn Mawr College before going on to receive her master's from New York University and law degree from Temple University's James Beasley School of Law. She has written many books and articles on legal issues, but has been a fan of mystery fiction her whole life, especially the works of Agatha Christie and Robert B. Parker. She practiced law for 30 years with both large law firms and, for five years, her own environmental law boutique. Ms. Kole retired as a lawyer in 2010. Her new career as a writer is keeping her busy, which means that she doesn't get out to play golf as much as she thought she would. She loves her family and boats. She tries to stay warm by spending the winters in Florida. She lives part time in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at Koleslaw.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook.
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The Smell of Money by Janet Kole
An Odd Fellows Mystery
Publisher: Vinson Books
What does a lawyer do when he can't stand his law partners any more? He teams up with his daughter and a hired killer to right some wrongs in the world.
— The Smell of Money by Janet Kole
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