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Summary: A fast-paced mystery with appeal for all...
Review: Having first heard of Lisa Scottoline with her most recent novel *Courting Trouble*, I decided to try some of her earlier books. In *Legal Tender*, we are introduced to Benedetta Rosato, co-owner of a growing Philadelphia law firm and ex-girlfriend of her partner, Mark Biscardi. Within the first few chapters, Mark is murdered in their law office, and "Bennie" is the prime suspect.What starts off pretty simply gets complicated fast as Bennie finds every aspect of her existence available to the police. One of her staff attorneys, Grady, volunteers to represent Bennie in more ways than one. Bennie finds herself doing everything possible to solve the crime before the police arrest her, and that includes disguises, breaking and entering, and more. Readers will be entertained for the duration. Enjoy!
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Summary: First Scottoline book I read
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. I have read many legal thrillers by different authors, but I fell in love with Scottoline's writing when I picked up this book. After reading only 5 pages I was hooked. I was suprised by the twists and turns the author took with her characters. At the end of the book I still wanted to know more about the characters, and good news came when I found out that the main characters continue into other books. I was sick of reading books that just drop you into a characters life for a brief moment and then they are gone. Scottoline does a great job developing likeable characters with her main and supporting characters. This is a great book and I highly recommend reading it, and other Scottoline books.
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Summary: Fast paced and easy to read
Review: Legal Tender by Lisa Scottoline LEGAL TENDER is a fast paced legal crime novel, with Benedetta "Bennie" Rosato as our heroine. She's a lawyer, who along with her partner Mark Biscardi, make up the law firm of Rosato and Biscardi. Business is going great. Her love life isn't, on the other hand. Mark, who was once her lover, is now dating one of their junior lawyers, Eve, and although Bennie's angry as hell, she doesn't have anything against Mark. Eve, on the other hand, she does not trust one bit. Soon, there is trouble at the office. Mark informs her that he is planning on starting over by forming a brand new law firm, leaving Rosato and Biscardi behind. Shortly after their argument, Mark is found dead in his office, and because he has named Bennie as his main beneficiary, she is the main suspect. Before long, she is on the run and she doesn't know whom she can trust. The law firm's success was bogus, and after much investigating she finds out that Mark had been planning to leave the partnership quite a while ago, bringing Eve along with him. Mark isn't the only one found dead. Soon, there are others, and Bennie knows that the deaths are all connected. Could they all have something to do with a case she had been working on? It was hard to tell. But as the newspaper headlines blare out her name on the front page, she finds that she is having a hard time coming out of hiding and returning to a normal life. With the help of Grady, another lawyer from the law firm, she does a lot of researching and investigating, and slowly learns the truth of why Mark and all the others had been murdered. I'm not a big fan of legal crime dramas, but I did enjoy LEGAL TENDER. I've read other crime novels, and found this one relatively easy to follow. It was fast paced and it took me only a few days to read it. I did feel that a lot of the plot was predictable, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. It only helped to make the book go that much faster. I would highly recommend it, but do not think the typical fan of legal crime dramas would enjoy it as much.
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Summary: Fast paced and easy to read
Review: Legal Tender by Lisa Scottoline LEGAL TENDER is a fast paced legal crime novel, with Benedetta "Bennie" Rosato as our heroine. She's a lawyer, who along with her partner Mark Biscardi, make up the law firm of Rosato and Biscardi. Business is going great. Her love life isn't, on the other hand. Mark, who was once her lover, is now dating one of their junior lawyers, Eve, and although Bennie's angry as hell, she doesn't have anything against Mark. Eve, on the other hand, she does not trust one bit. Soon, there is trouble at the office. Mark informs her that he is planning on starting over by forming a brand new law firm, leaving Rosato and Biscardi behind. Shortly after their argument, Mark is found dead in his office, and because he has named Bennie as his main beneficiary, she is the main suspect. Before long, she is on the run and she doesn't know whom she can trust. The law firm's success was bogus, and after much investigating she finds out that Mark had been planning to leave the partnership quite a while ago, bringing Eve along with him. Mark isn't the only one found dead. Soon, there are others, and Bennie knows that the deaths are all connected. Could they all have something to do with a case she had been working on? It was hard to tell. But as the newspaper headlines blare out her name on the front page, she finds that she is having a hard time coming out of hiding and returning to a normal life. With the help of Grady, another lawyer from the law firm, she does a lot of researching and investigating, and slowly learns the truth of why Mark and all the others had been murdered. I'm not a big fan of legal crime dramas, but I did enjoy LEGAL TENDER. I've read other crime novels, and found this one relatively easy to follow. It was fast paced and it took me only a few days to read it. I did feel that a lot of the plot was predictable, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. It only helped to make the book go that much faster. I would highly recommend it, but do not think the typical fan of legal crime dramas would enjoy it as much.
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Summary: An incredibly interesting, fast-paced read!!
Review: Lisa Scottoline is a writer that pulls you in immediately and I promise you that you won't put down any one of her books unless you absolutely have to. Legal Tender introduces the character "Bennie" Bendedetta Rosato. Bennie is accused of murdering her ex-lover in this fast-paced legal thriller and as the plot thickens you are unable to tear yourself away from this book. All of Scottoline's books are absorbing and as soon as I finished reading this one I went out and bought all of them. Often I buy several books of the same author and they get boring and repetive but not so with her, its a surprise every time. She's been compared to Grisham but my opinion is she is even better!!! Don't miss Legal Tender or any of her books, you won't be disappointed!
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Summary: Another Strong Entry For Scottoline
Review: Lisa Scottoline's LEGAL TENDER continues a streak of strongly-written, character-driven novels that revolve around the legal world, this time focusing on attorney Bennie Rosato. Rosato is partner in a firm she started when her then-lover, who is now involved with one of the firm's associates and is planning to dissolve said-firm in order to start his own practice independent of Bennie. That's when all the trouble begins, which eventually leads to the murder of three people, and finds Bennie as the prime suspect. Along the way, we meet those closest to Bennie, including her mother and her best friend, all completely fleshed-out characters and far from the cookie-cutter characterizations found in alot of novels. In addition to the meaty character backstories, Scottoline also has a firm grasp on legal jargon, and remains one of the wittiest and funniest writers in the genre. Highly recommended.
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Summary: A top-notch legal thriller
Review: The only thing I regret is not the money I spent but the time I wasted reading this book. But I guess there are enough 3rd graders out there who will enjoy it.
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Summary: True page turner
Review: This book is the typical fast paced Lisa style. It was very enjoyable to read. My only complaint was the ending. It was a big let down, however, it is worth the read and is a hands down page turner.
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Summary: Philadelphia Story
Review: This is clever writing. The narrator is Benedetta, a trial attorney and movement follower. Her law firm in Philadelphia pursues lawsuits of social importance. A friend at a white shoe firm tells Bennie that he has heard that two of the associates in her firm are defecting. He tells her that socialism does not work, autocracy does. She finds out that actually three associates are seeking other jobs. The two partners wanted to do well and do good. Then Mark, the other partner, (they are no longer involved romantically), tells Bennie it, the law firm, is finished. Mark has already found her new office space.
Bennie's mother is so depressed that shock therapy is being considered. She has her splintering firm and her failing mother with an exhausted caretaker and her own emotions burdening her when she learns that her partner has been killed. She becomes the client of one of the associates who steps forward promptly since she is now a suspect. He is the most accomplished of the associates having clerked for a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. She finds that Mark named her in his will and that he had significant family-derived wealth.
Philadelphia's police administration building is called the Roundhouse. Bennie feels her career crash and burn. She speaks of reporters laying techno-siege to the townhouse where the firm is located. She provides the police with a tip to prevent crime and the police decide that she has something to do with a bombing. Bennie goes to the high-powered law firm and invents a ghost lawyer in order to hide in plain sight. The story is full of action and interest.
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Summary: A great picaresque tale
Review: This is the fifth book by Lisa Scottoline that I have read. After being given The Vendetta Defense, I was hooked, and am now trying to read the rest of her books methodically and in order. When you get to know a writer's style, sometimes it is disappointing to figure out the formula. So far, I have not felt this way about Scottoline. She always adds enough new twists to keep me interested. Of course, if a reader cannot suspend a certain amount of disbelief, he or she will not like this book. There is an unmistakable degree of sly exaggeration. But like any good spoof, it tells the truth. Anybody who personally knows any lawyer even slightly will understand the author's "digs" at law firms' predilection for client billing. And Scottoline has a wicked ability to caricature the different lawyer types, much as she clearly maps out the social strata of the different floors of a law firm, starting with the Loser Floor. One reason she maintains suspense is that all her characters are well fleshed out, evincing both good and bad qualities, so that unlike the case with usual villain archetypes, by the time the book reaches its denouement, the identity of who- actually-dun-it surprises us. And her wonderful character on the lam, Bennie Rosato, leads a merry chase because the author clearly knows her venues-- and how the system works--so well. Although more sympathetic than the typical picaresque protagonist, Rosato has enough gall and chutzpah to be convincing. The embattled heroine pulls off several little stings which give the reader a triumphant if vicarious satisfaction. There are superb ironies here: the only person who heeds her questionable alter ego's so-called pleas for non-billable help is the head of the firm. And the elderly security guard at the tacky office of the sleazy (and hilariously inappropriately named) lawyer, Mr. Celeste, turns out to be actually more on the ball than the gaggle of smooth but naïve young gatekeepers at the posh building that houses highly successful firms. Scottoline's undergraduate degree was in English, and it shows. Not only does she know the law, but she understands literature, and there are layers of wit and plot, as well as substance and subtext, to her writing that are enormously gratifying. In other words, she writes good.
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