Rating: 
Summary: I don't see it...
Review: I just don't see what others like about this book. It's classified as a legal thriller, but aside from a brief (and unbelievable) car chase, there was no "thrill" to be had, and the legal parts were dull and heavily peppered with the obligatory "Objection!--Sustained/Overruled. I'll allow it." dialogue. I found three main faults with this book:
1. The writing - The style wavered between unneccessarily descriptive, to unimaginative and unoriginal. At times I felt as if I were rereading parts because they were so bland. The dialogue was awkward and strained, as if the people weren't actually talking to each other.
2. The characters - Often one-dimensional and stereotypical. The salty and stubborn ex-cop named Lou (aren't there any ex-cops named Alan or Stuart?). The aggressive, gritty, and determined female attorney stopping at nothing to prove her case...and predictably given a man's name "Bennie." The shallowly written bad cops. The blurry, weak, almost feminine boyfriend. Even the dog was hackneyed - a golden retriever named Bear. Come on, doesn't anyone have an Akita named Sasquatch or a Boxer called Rocky?
3. The story - Predictably predictable. I knew what was going to happen, and frankly didn't really feel like putting much effort into reading it...but I did. And that's the whole point. I've read (and enjoyed) many predictable thrillers, but the sour combination of unimaginative characters and flat writing make reading this book extremely tiresome. There's a quote on the cover of the book from some dolt proclaiming Lisa Scottoline as "the female Grisham." Well, I don't know what book this person read, but the only similarity between the two is that both authors' books are classified as legal thrillers. Sure, Grisham's stories are often trite, but his characters at least have some originality, and the writing and dialogue is often fun, if not simplistic. Mistaken Identity is an unoriginal, dull, predictable, and ultimately tiresome read. If you haven't read it, skip it. If you've managed to read it, just be glad that you now know what author not to read next time.
Rating: 
Summary: She gets you right from the start and never lets go!
Review: I know John Grisham, and Lisa is no John Grisham.She's better. More of a sense of humor.Deeper. "Mistaken Identity" is a primer of how a mystery should work. Benny Rosato is a real person and never wavers. The action is vivid and always surprising. It's almost as good as "Rough Justice" which I felt was the top of the genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than expected, but that's not saying much!
Review: I picked this up at a local book store, and didn't expect it to be a very good book. After buying it, I let it collect dust for a few months on my shelf before, after having nothing better to do I began to read it. At first I had trouble reading it because it wasn't very exciting for me. Of course this might just be because after reading several Stephen King and John Grisham books, excitment has to be taken up a few notches to catch my attention. But after reading through the book on and off for a few weeks it began to get interesting. I started to read it as opposed to other books given to me for presents, but found myself picking up a Bentley Little book and reading that before finishing Mistaken Identity. At the last few hundred pages the story gets suspensful and exciting, but I suspect that if I had one of my old favorite books nearby I would have chosen them over this. Although the book is superb at the end, the beggining drags to much, and I was easily distracted in the first few hundred pages! If you feel that you've read all of the good books, and it seems that all that is left is this, then read it. But don't expect Scottoline to become your new favorite author!
Rating:
Summary: ......yawn
Review: I read about 100 pages of this book and the last 50 or so were a struggle. I was so bored with this book that I gave up on it. I didn't particularly like any of these characters, and the story was very slow-moving.
Rating:
Summary: Mistaken Identity
Review: I read books of this genre for entertainment and relaxation and Mistaken Identity satisfied me in both ways. I don't have the "lawyerly" knowledge to trip up my enjoyment, but I am usually willing to suspend disbelief a bit for a "good read." That is, after all, a tradition when writing and reading fiction. I look for interesting, well developed characters, a compelling plot, and decent writing; Scottoline delivers all three. There are questions unanswered, sure! I trust (and look forward to) Scottoline answering them somewhere farther down the line. I would offer this book to friends to read.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was not "all that"
Review: I was dissapointed with this book. It seemed very drawn out and because of this you wound up forgetting who the characters were. There were too many names, characters, etc. to keep track of. On the positive side, the dialog and writing was fun to read...
Rating: 
Summary: This is an ecellent book.
Review: If you have not read Lisa Scottoline before please do this is her third book and it is truly good. I thourghly enjoyed it and read it in 2 days. It's 5 stars in my book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Story Behind the Story of Mistaken Identity
Review: Imagine opening your front door to find someone who looks like you. Not only looks like you, but talks and even acts like you. It turns out the woman is the sister you didn't know you had. This happened to me. When I was in my thirties, I found out that I had a half-sister who was so close in age, appearance, and temperament that she could be my twin. This remarkable discovery is at the heart of my new novel, MISTAKEN IDENTITY. In the novel, a woman lawyer, Bennie Rosato, goes to prison to take the case of a woman inmate, Alice Connolly, who is being held for the murder of her lover, a detective with the Philadelphia police. But when Bennie meets Connolly, she is stunned to find that the woman bears a strong resemblance to her - and claims to be her identical twin. Bennie, who is savvy and skeptical, doesn't believe her, but can't quite turn away without discovering the truth. Bennie takes on Connolly's defense, and each step in the case plunges her deeper into the mystery of the murder, and of her own identity. The ending of the novel is a surprise - on both counts. I am taking the extraordinary measure of writing so personally because MISTAKEN IDENTITY is a very personal novel to me. While it started off from a true event in my life, it is a fictional legal thriller about the secrets that families keep within. In my view, it is my best and most ambitious work to date. I feel proud that it has gotten such wonderful reviews - starred reviews in Kirkus Reviews and Publisher's Weekly. You may also have caught a sneak peek of its first chapter in packages of Diet Coke, because the novel was chosen by The Coca-Cola Company for its promotion of popular fiction. Ten million copies of the chapter are in Diet Coke packages nationally. If you are, thanks so much, because we participated in one of the most innovative cyber-experiments on the creative process to date. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I know you will love MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: It's disappointng to read a book by a former "trial lawyer at a prestigious firm" which inserts plot devices which would not happen in a real criminal trial.
In a real prosecution, if the defendant wanted to fire her attorney and hire a new attorney, the old attorney would have no grounds to oppose the motion. Nor would any competent trial counsel go looking for evidence by herself, without bringing along an investigator who could testify as to what was found.
When the motion for a continuance was denied, it's true that such a motion can't be "appealed," but there IS a writ process available where the denial of the motion could be brought to the appellate court's attention.
I also doubt that a trial court would literally "strike" testimony heard by the jury from the appellate record, as the author suggests happens.
The book is over-long for the writing, plot and characters. The denouement of the "defendant" plot line, end of chapter 96, is both tasteless and illogical. The author tries some plot twists like Crichton in _Disclosure_, but just doesn't pull them off. Instead of "now I see what was happening," the reader feels, "the author intentionally lied to me."
Rating:
Summary: Get past the first few pages and it's clear sailing.
Review: Lisa Scottoline, Mistaken Identity (Harper, 1999) Three pages into Lisa Scottoline's sixth novel, Mistaken Identity, I wasn't sure I was going to make it to page ten. Scottoline opens the novel with her protagonist, Bennie Rosato, walking into the county prison where her newest client is in residence, mentally rattling off statistics that we've all heard a million times, most of which are, to say the least, on shaky ground as far as their worth is concerned. It is a horrible opening; thankfully, it is also short. The book improves tremedously on page four, and stays improved for the next five hundred plus pages. Rosato's newest client is Alice Connolly, who greets her with the rather surprising revelation that Connolly is Rosato's twin, despite that the two have never met before. The twin thing certainly throws a few extra monkeywrenches into the works of the normal courtroom/detective story, not that it needed any. Connolly is accused of killing her live-in boyfriend, a Philadelphia police officer, and makes nasty hints that other cops are framing her. The first half of the book alternates between Rosato trying to figure out if there really is a conspiracy and trying to figure out whether Connolly actually killed her boyfriend, as the two things aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. This section is standard mystery fare; if you're a fan of the genre, it'll work for you. Where Scottoline shines is once the case gets to court. When you reach page 300 and they're getting ready for trial, you start wondering how Scottoline is going to fill the second half of the book. She does so brilliantly, better even than many nonfiction true crime books cover trials. In fact, the only book I can think of that goes into this much detail of the trial, specifically the dialogue, is Bataille's <i>The Trial of Gilles de Rais</i> (in which the second half of the book is simply unexpurgated trial transcripts). In both Bataille's work of nonfiction and Scottoline's novel, we are given solid evidence that cutting out the supposedly extraneous material of a trial, a rather common method of speeding up books/movies/TV shows, may be good for cutting time, but that all the other stuff is going to be just as gripping to the devoted reader of courtroom-procedure books. Scottoline takes us, line by line, through a cross-examination instead of summarizing. It's wonderful. Would that more courtroom-drama authors did such things. Maybe, as Scottoline gains the audience she deserves, it'll catch on. The beginning of the book is enough to make me drop it a notch, but still a highly recommended read. *** 1/2
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