Rough Justice

Starred review from September 1, 1997
Moving from crime fiction to the legal thriller, Edgar Award winner Scottoline (Final Appeal) fashions a stylish blend of wit and suspense. The focus of the narrative is the conclusion of a high-profile murder trial in Philadelphia. Slumlord Elliot Steere is accused of killing a homeless man during a carjacking attempt. His aggressive attorney, Marta Richter, has apparently defended him successfully. As the jury begins deliberation, however, Steere gleefully admits his guilt to her, setting in motion a complex and riveting chain of events. With the likely acquittal only hours away, Richter, furious at having been duped by her client, sets out to make amends. She drafts Judy Carrier and Mary DiNunzio to help her secretly reopen the case and search for overlooked evidence. The two young lawyers work for Rosato & Associates, an all-woman law firm Richter has retained as her local counsel for the Steere case. When Bennie Rosato (the bright and witty lawyer from Legal Tender) discovers that the two associates have disappeared and that her firm's credibility is under attack, she launches her own investigation. Meanwhile, Richter battles the clock, a blizzard and a nasty henchman dispatched by Steere (who's spending the blizzard in a holding cell). Scottoline deftly balances the varied personalities of the women and manages a large cast, including judge and jury, with precision. She skillfully depicts personal quirks that give her characters dimension: the ruthless Steere is a dedicated student of Sun-Tzu's The Art of War; DiNunzio drinks from a "Feminazi" coffee mug. Scottoline's legal background lends verisimilitude to the story, and her skill as a novelist makes her plot sizzle with cliffhanging intensity. 75,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; audio rights: HarperAudio; U.K. translation and dramatic rights: Aaron Priest Literary Agency; author tour. (Sept.) FYI: The paperback edition of Legal Tender will be published simultaneously.

Just as the jury begins to deliberate, defense attorney Marta Richter learns from her client that, rather than having killed a homeless drunk in self-defense, the client is actually guilty of murder. In the midst of one of the worst blizzards Philadelphia has ever seen, Marta, aided by two associates, sets out to discover the truth, putting all three in mortal danger. Rosenblat's voiced reading heightens an already exciting and dramatic story; she captures the Italian, Jewish and black dialects. While her pace matches the rapid tempo of events, her pauses between the chapters, each of which ends in a cliffhanger, seem almost too long as the listener anxiously wonders what will happen next. The infrequent flashes of humor are well delivered with a dry wit. It is unfortunate that the reader's breathing and swallowing are audible, detracting from an otherwise superb performance. S.S.R. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

May 15, 1997
Scottoline introduces a new series set in an all-female law firm in Philadelphia. Here's hoping this will be her breakout novel.

August 1, 1997
During the biggest snowstorm in the history of Philadelphia, the jury is out. The defense is confident of a verdict of not guilty, but then client Elliot Steere admits to his council that he is a murderer. Marta Richter does not take this revelation happily. In fact, she's so outraged that she wants her client's secret revealed no matter what it does to her career. Steere isn't about to let her blow his chances, and with powerful connections, money, and muscle, he works from his jail cell to silence Marta and her colleagues before the sequestered jury makes a decision. If readers like soap opera--type cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, a plot that reads like a TV script, and a little gory violence here and there, they will like this book. The characters are well thought out, but most often sequences of the story unfold implausibly, as when Marta hunts for clues in her client's house and boat. Attorney Bennie Rosato, the feisty character from a previous Scottoline novel (Legal Tender, LJ 7/96), makes an appearance here but is not very involved in the plot except for a "save-the-day" routine in the last few chapters. This is essential for readers already hooked on Scottoline, but don't start with this one when introducing her to readers. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/97.]--Shirley Gibson Coleman, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., Mich.

July 1, 1997
Scottoline is back with a flair in her newest thriller. Like her previous book, "Running from the Law" (1995), this is a fascinating, fast-paced story told with wit, sarcasm, and just the right amount of circus. Marta Richter, just beginning to peak in her career as a defense attorney, has brilliantly presented a fool-proof defense for multimillionaire Elliot Steere, the accused murderer of a homeless man. Just as the jury is about to begin deliberations, however, Steere coolly tells his hardworking attorney that he did indeed kill the man in cold blood, that the self-defense claim was just a ruse. Here is where Scottoline shows her mastery, for she does not center her story on the typical trial scene but, rather, focuses on the post-trial upheaval that envelopes Marta. The drama escalates as she realizes how much power Steere wields, even behind bars, and as her firm's managing partner gets involved, both of them risk their careers and lives in the pursuit of justice. Considering the publisher's extensive mass-market promotion touting Scottoline as the next Grisham or Turow (claims that are not significantly off base), libraries will want to stock up. ((Reviewed July 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)