[In Kennedy for the Defense], Boston lawyer George V. Higgins has returned to the low-life scene of his first three books, "The Friends of Eddie Coyle," "The Digger's Game" and "Cogan's Trade." But something new has been added that makes this book a big step forward for the author. While the familiar set of cops and cons infest its pages, the story is narrated by a lawyer named Jeremiah F. Kennedy….

The presence of Jerry Kennedy, who, as he puts it, has "a fast larynx," and whose wife "will tell you that I am the classiest sleazy criminal lawyer in Boston," creates certain narrative problems for Mr. Higgins that he hasn't solved to complete satisfaction. Because Kennedy is the "I" through which all the plot developments are filtered, he must either witness or be told everything that happens in the story. (p. 133)

Mr. Higgins tries to make Kennedy's...