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years ago in MISTAKEN IDENTITY, Philadelphia attorney Bennie Rosato defended her twin sister, Alice Connelly, after being framed for a murder charge. At the time, neither knew that they had an identical sibling and did not what to do about it. In the end, Alice severed the relationship after being acquitted and told Bennie that she was leaving town for good. Bennie has no idea what has happened to her since then. Well, she will get a chance to see her again; unfortunately, it will not be a happy homecoming. DEAD RINGER marks the return of Alice at the time when things with Bennie are not looking good. Two major clients of the firm of Rosato & Associates have filed for bankruptcy and a third one just file this morning, Bennie is having trouble making ends meet and is afraid that she might have to layoff some of her workers. They have been like family to her all these years and she is afraid that she will lose them. During a stroke of luck, a potential client is interested in doing a class action lawsuit. If the ladies at the all female-firm play their cards right, they might continue to stay solvent, but it will be a hard road ahead. Making matters worse, Bennie’s sister has been impersonating her around town making her look bad and getting her arrested after a case of mistaken identity. When someone close to the firm is murdered, things go at a stand still. Is her sister a murderer? Ah, if it were that simple. Out of all the great Lisa Scottoline out there today, DEAD RINGER is a disappointment. There are too many things happening at the firm as well as with the other characters in the book. The ever-present Mary DiNunzio is back with a case that will affect her personally; Judy Carrier has dyed her hair pink; and Anne Murphy returns after the events of the last novel, the funny COURTING TROUBLE. None of the subplots seems to have a resolution because it will probably be used in a future novel. This book might have worked better if it was a collection of short stories instead of one novel that is out of focus. The return of Alice served more as a gimmick to readers and the crucial meeting was not convincing. Something’s up, but you cannot tell here. If you are a true Scottoline fan you will want to read this book anyway. If you have yet to try this author, you might want to try ROUGH JUSTICE. It is the best book in her library to date. Read COURTING TROUBLE for pure fun.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, July 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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