Review
by Deb Czajkowski
Mary
Dinunzio has just made partner at Rosato & Associates. In fact, congratulatory toasts are still
being made and cake is still being passed around when the receptionist
interrupts the party to announce that Allegra Gardner is on her way up and is
looking for representation. Although
Allegra herself is unknown to the firm and has no appointment, the celebration
comes to an abrupt halt and the lawyers immediately transition into legal mode.
Allegra
Gardner is thirteen years old and a member of the extremely wealthy and
prestigious Gardner family. She is also
a certified genius whose only friends are the bees she keeps. Allegra’s sister, Fiona, was murdered six
years ago. Allegra has always believed
that the wrong man went to jail for this crime and, now that she has control of
the trust fund her grandfather left her, she can hire a law firm to help her
prove it.
Lonnie
Stall was a server at the Gardners’ house the night Fiona was killed. He was seen fleeing the scene, his blood was
found on Fiona, and her blood was on him.
Later, he pleaded guilty to the crime.
It seemed to be an open-and-shut case.
Law enforcement and even Fiona’s parents were satisfied that justice had
been served.
Allegra’s
parents are fiercely fighting against reopening the case. Why would Mary
Dinunzio take Allegra as her first official client as partner when she knows
this means going up against the powerful Gardner family and fighting for a guy
who admitted he committed the crime? Is Lonnie really guilty of killing
Fiona? Why does Allegra feel so strongly
that Lonnie is innocent?
Author
Lisa Scottoline pulled me into this drama right away with Mary’s likeable
normalcy tucked into the very new partnership and then with Allegra’s clever quirkiness. Two avenues kept me interested as the story
progressed: One, I wanted to believe
with Allegra that Lonnie is innocent; two, I tend to root for underdogs, and
Lisa gave me several. While this book is
of course a legal battle of lawyers and power, it is satisfyingly filled with
wit, humor, and endearing people. I
recommend it for both reasons. Start your literary year with Lisa’s Accused.
Purchase
the book at:
About the Author:
Lisa
Scottoline is
the New York Times bestselling
author and Edgar award-winning author of 22 novels, including her latest, Betrayed. She also writes a weekly column
with her daughter Francesca Serritella for the Philadelphia Inquirer titled
"Chick Wit" which is a witty and fun take on life from a woman's
perspective. These stories, along with many other never-before-published
stories, have been collected in four books including their most recent, Have
a Nice Guilt Trip, and the earlier, Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim, Best
Friends, Occasional Enemies, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, which has been
optioned for TV, and My Nest Isn't Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space.
Lisa reviews popular fiction and non-fiction, and her reviews have appeared in New
York Times, The Washington Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Lisa
has served as President of Mystery Writers of America and has taught a course
she developed, "Justice and Fiction" at The University of
Pennsylvania Law School, her alma mater. Lisa is a regular and much sought
after speaker at library and corporate events. Lisa has over 30 million copies
of her books in print and is published in over 35 countries. She lives in the
Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets, and she wouldn't have it
any other way.
Connect
with the author at:
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