Melanie (MELNELYNN) reviewed on 5/15/2011 + 669 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Wow...it's good to have the original cast back again, making progress in their lives but tougher than ever. This time Scottoline tells the tale from the perspective of Bennie Rosato, owner of the all-woman law firm where Mary and Judy work. There's also Anne, who appeared briefly in an earlier novel, but she is conveniently on vacation in this volume.

Scottoline's trademark is putting people in impossible situations and watching them carry it off. One she had a lawyer pretend to be an employee of another law firm. This time, she has Bennie's twin sister, Alice, impersonating Bennie.

It all begins when Bennie tries to be supportive of her troubled twin, accepting a dinner invitation where Alice claims to be living. Bennie foils Alice's attempt to kill her but then (as the reader will expect) Bennie's troubles really begin. She has to convince the cops that's she's Bennie, not Alice, which is hard to do when she's dressed like Alice. She has to stop Alice's elaborate scheme to steal her life.

Scottoline really hammers the reader. She juggles character viewpoints smoothly and convincingly. Her tone changes when we switch among Alice, Mary and Bennie. Mary and Judy are consistent with the characters Scottoline created in her very first book. We know just enough about Judy to keep interested. For a moment I thought we'd get to meet Judy's parents but no: we get more than enough of Mary's family. Let's just say that Judy's role in the plot was not surprising, given her character.

Following mystery conventions, Scottoline ends every chapter with a cliffhanger. She introduces, for the first time I can remember in the series, something new in the character of Fiorella, a distant cousin who claims to be a witch.

A finicky reader might complain about two points. First one character turns up a little too conveniently on the scene; however, this character creates a special test for Alice's deception and ultimately affects mostly Bennie's dog, Bear. Second, there was a lot of discussion about Mary becoming a partner in Bennie's firm, but wasn't Mary made partner in the very first book in the series, with a different firm? Wouldn't Mary and Judy remember so being made a partner would feel different the second time around? .

Alas, this is one of those books that's hard to put down, yet leaves the reader sorry it's over at the end.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details