Dead Ringer
 Lisa Scottoline
 (Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
 2003 HarperCollins
 ISBN: 0060514930

Tough & smart Bennie Rosato returns pitted against her evil twin sister.

Sr. Associate Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

Lisa Scottoline's latest offering, Dead Ringer, is a light murder mystery. Though the work cannot boast of gritty legal thriller elements, the hallmark of her previous thrillers including The Vendetta Defense & Everywhere Mary Went, it provides an interesting read -- in other words, make this your beach book read of the year.

Scottoline's series protagonist, smart & street-savvy Lawyer Bennie Rosato of Rosato & Associates returns in fine form. Rosato is facing a tough time, with debts mounting & cash reserves vanishing. She needs a high profile case -- & is earning for a juicy murder defense -- when a case lands on her lap -- yes, it is juicy, yes, the case would mint money, but murder it is not.

What the client, Robert St. Amien, wants is a class action suit for damages for loss of business...no, don't worry, I am not going into the nuances of the drab civil litigation. Rosato accepts the claim, but within days, her client is murdered.

To add misery to her worries, Rosato is facing death threats from her twin sister, Alice Connelly, whom we had earlier met in Mistaken Identity. Rosato is perplexed -- she had once saved Alice from the electric chair, now she wonders why Alice is hell-bent on killing her.

Slowly she begins to suspect Alice of killing St. Amien & what follows is a light but exciting mystery where Rosato launches into her investigation, trying to save her life, find the murderer & also to keep her firm afloat.

As I said, Dead Ringer is a light mystery. For the ardent Scottoline fan, it is going to be a mild disappointment. However, one thing I can assure you -- there is bound to be another Rosato mystery in the near future & I believe Alice Connelly will not necessarily be an evil character in that one. Watch this space.

More from Lisa Scottoline:
Moment of Truth
Courting Trouble
Final Appeal
Running from the Law

(08/03/03)

Narayan
2003©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org