Blockbuster author Lisa Scottoline returns to the Rosato & Associates law firm with Betrayed, and maverick lawyer Judy Carrier takes the lead in a case that’s more personal than ever. Judy has always championed the underdog, so when Iris, the housekeeper and best friend of Judy’s beloved Aunt Barb, is found dead of an apparent heart attack, Judy begins to suspect foul play. The circumstances … circumstances of the death leave Judy with more questions than answers, and never before has murder struck so close to home.
In the meantime, Judy’s own life roils with emotional and professional upheaval. She doesn’t play well with her boss, Bennie Rosato, which jeopardizes her making partner at the firm. Not only that, her best friend Mary DiNunzio is planning a wedding, leaving Judy feeling left behind, as well as newly unhappy in her relationship with her live-in boyfriend Frank.
Judy sets her own drama aside and begins an investigation of Iris’s murder, then discovers a shocking truth that confounds her expectations and leads her in a completely different direction. She finds herself plunged into a shadowy world of people who are so desperate that they cannot go to the police, and where others are so ruthless that they prey on vulnerability. Judy finds strength within herself to try to get justice for Iris and her aunt — but it comes at a terrible price.
more
This is really a page turner. Lisa Scottoline is becoming one of my favorite authors. Never predictable. Knows how to tell a good story, mixing crime with family issues.
Excellent – a genuinely entertaining book…as are all of Lisa Scottoline’s books!
I always enjoy Lisa Scottoline’s novels.
I’ve said in other reviews of this author’s work that I like her Rosato & Associates books better than her stand-alones. That’s true here as well. But this one’s a little different in that Judy Carrier takes center stage (for the second time in the series).
As always, Scottoline pens an engaging tale with plenty of twists in this story about Judy’s hunt for the source of the fifty grand hidden in her Aunt Barb’s house and the murderer of Barb’s best friend, Iris, that leads her to uncovering a cartel.
There were some printing errors, missed and extra punctuation and wrong words – jet for vet for one, bullet-ridden instead of bullet-riddled for another. That’s to be expected in an ARE.
Chapter 6 read like an info dump – what a friend calls, “Well, Jim, as you know…” narrative. The dialog is stiff and stilted as Judy Carrier asks and a police officer answers questions about how they handle an investigation. Since this is the thirteenth novel in the series and Scottoline’s 22nd novel overall, I expect better.
And one of my pet peeves – a mistake regarding a car. Judy drives a VW Beetle in the book and in one scene, opens the back door to let her dog out. That’s impossible, as Beetles are 2-door cars. This is not a mistake I have noticed just with Ms. Scottoline but with many authors, both male and female. And while this is a minor thing that probably would go unnoticed by many, as a ‘car guy,’ it jumps out at me and makes me wonder what else the author got wrong.
I liked this story, but it wasn’t quite as good as Accused, the previous entry. Still, as long as Scottoline keeps writing them, I’ll keep reading them.
This was another strong legal thriller by Lisa Scottoline. One of the things that I like about her approach, as opposed to some other writers who write series, is that she doesn’t always have the same protagonists in her stories. It started off with Bennie Rosato as the dominant character, but Scottoline has branched off into various other characters to lead the story. This time, it’s Judy Carrier, an associate with Rosato & Dinunzio. I always viewed her as more of a quirky side character rather than a lead, but the author proved more than capable in crafting this novel.
In this novel, Judy Carrier gets involved with her a friend of her Aunt Barb’s, who winds up dead with an apparent heart attack. Despite what seem like natural causes, Judy senses that something is off and digs deeper into the case, in the process exposing her to all sorts of danger. She gets knee deep—pun intended if you read the novel—in an illegal operation involving mushroom growing enterprises. Meanwhile, she is dealing with her aunt having surgery for breast cancer and her failing relationship with her boyfriend.
This is a well written, fast moving novel. The author packs a lot into this novel and keeps it tight, something that I appreciate since it seems more often than not I read novels that are bloated and could use serious trimming. The characterization is strong. The plot, although not particularly surprising, is logical and free of plot holes. All told, this was a fun read that I would recommend.
Carl Alves – author of Beyond the Shadow
Enjoyable read!!!
I really liked this book It was very entertaining
Loved the entire series.
Standalone book and a very good read from one of my fav authors.