What would you do if you found yourself caught between justice and law?
Well, this is the ethical dilemma that Mary DiNunzio found herself in one day. A normal day as a lawyer at Rosato & Associates turned chaotic when her old high schoolmate Trish Gambone showed up at her office to ask for her help because she feared for her life from her abusive mobster boyfriend. Trish was a bully, brash and mean and her attitude did not help matters between her and Mary right from the beginning. Neither did Trish's girl gang, the Mean Girls, comprising of Giulia, Yolanda and Missy, who played secondary roles in this book.
Suddenly, Trish's abusive boyfriend turned up dead in an alley and Trish went missing. Mary then went on a one-woman crusade to go in search of Trish, alive or dead, at the expense of her job, friends and love life. However, nothing is as easy and clean cut as they seem. Not every ending can be a happy one, not even in fiction.
I find this book riveting from start to finish. Scottoline is a master of drawing out unexpected and shocking endings out of unexpected and shocking endings out of unexpected and shocking endings. Her protrayal of Mary's Italian parents and the community she lives in is spot-on, that is, full of warmth and togetherness. The heroine, Mary, comes across as strong and determined yet indecisive, impulsive and vulnerable at times, in other words, she is real. It does not disappoint in its plot, characters, pace, suspense and entertainment value. Overall, the story is well told and engaging much like Daddy's Girl (review: 13 May 2010).
Scottoline is the true master of the art of storytelling and now has a top place on my bookshelf.
This is my first Mary DiNunzio book. There are eleven others before Lady Killer!
Moral of the story: Grief, anger and guilt destroy. Let it all go.
Rating: 5/5 (Hooked)
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