After dabbling in successful careers in both law and business, Jeffrey Cohen decided to do what he really loves.
On May 5, Cohen — a life-long Philadelphian and 1988 graduate of the Law School — released his first novel, The Killing of Mindi Quintana, at the Kimmel Center.
The crime thriller draws on Cohen’s background of practicing law, as well as his comprehensive knowledge of the neighborhoods and historical landmarks in Philadelphia.
“I used to go to downtown Philly to watch trials in City Hall, and I really fell in love with the trial process,” he said.
After graduating from Penn Law — his “favorite educational experience” — Cohen worked as a corporate litigator. He honed the writing skills that were emphasized in law school through extensive brief writing.
“Jeff was a voracious reader, and writing was always his passion,” Penn Law classmate and close friend Jonathan Newman said. “Jeff even took a year off from law school to write.”
Newman recalls reading one of the first drafts of Mindi Quintana in 1988.
When Cohen switched career focus from law to business in 1995, he found once again that writing was a crucial aspect for professional success.
The plot revolves around a frustrated department store clerk named Freddy Builder, who kills a high school flame to feed a hankering for attention and purpose.
Though he started writing Mindi Quintana years ago, Cohen found that it was impossible to devote the necessary amount of time and dedication to the novel unless he made it his top priority. He and his brother concluded their work in the business world in 2008, and Cohen began writing every day.
“Writing is a full-time career,” he emphasized. However, he does not regret the time he spent pursuing other interests.
Business and law, Cohen said, “really provided me with two wonderful windows of the world.”
The novel is a corporate drama about America’s obsession with violent criminals.
“We have a tendency to attribute to them talent and charisma and charm,” Cohen said. “We make them into folk heroes like Bonnie and Clyde or John Gotti.”
The plot revolves around a frustrated department store clerk named Freddy Builder, who kills a high school flame to feed a hankering for attention and purpose.
Another central character of Mindi Quintana is the defense attorney, Philip, who begins to question the ethics of the American legal system and his purpose in the field.
“He realized that he was playing a part in defending these very heinous criminals,” Cohen said. He disclosed that many aspects of the story are based off of situations he observed first hand in the legal world.
His experiences helped facilitate very accurate character development.
“When he talks about the different characters of the book, you really feel like you’re in their mind and know what’s going on,” said Lou Boxer, the co-creator of NoirCon — a conference for mystery writers and readers held in Philadelphia each year.
“It becomes almost a visceral experience rather than a reading experience,” Boxer said. “You’re really thrown into the workings of a killer.”
Cohen is already working on his second book, entitled A Plea for Leniency.
This article has been corrected to reflect that Lou Boxer is the co-creator of NoirCon, not the creator of Crimespace.
The plot revolves around a frustrated department store clerk named Freddy Builder, who kills a high school flame to feed a hankering for attention and purpose.
