Betrayed

September 22, 2014
When Iris Juarez, an undocumented immigrant, turns up dead in her car in bestseller Scottoline’s rewarding 13th Rosato & Associates novel (after 2013’s Accused), lawyer Judy Carrier winds up investigating, since Iris was the best friend of Judy’s cancer-stricken aunt, Barb. Meanwhile, both Judy’s personal and professional life explode: her boss orders her to take on a series of dubiously ethical asbestos cases, and her boyfriend, Frank Lucia, proposes just as Judy prepares to break up with him. Judy is a sympathetic protagonist—passionate about her job, loyal to her family, and dogged in her pursuit of justice—which makes her struggle to reconcile her ideals of justice with the realities of working at a big Philadelphia law firm particularly compelling. While Scottoline does a good job of balancing the various elements of Judy’s life, the novel feels like a small part of a much larger story, leaving the mystery with an unfinished quality. Author tour. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Literary Agency.

October 15, 2014
It's associate Judy Carrier's turn to feel the heat at Rosato & DiNunzio, Philadelphia's premier all-female law firm. And girl, does she ever.Founding partner Bennie Rosato thinks she's doing Judy a favor by giving her a chance-that is, requiring her-to hammer out settlements for 75 asbestos-liability cases. It's exactly the sort of work that could establish her as a rainmaker and pave the way for her to become a partner. That's not quite how Judy sees it. She doesn't want to argue down the worth of each individual life lost to mesothelioma. More important, she's already got her hands full with Linda Adler's sex discrimination suit against PennBank when a bigger bombshell lands: Her beloved Aunt Barb is about to go under the knife for breast cancer. As usual with Scottoline (Accused, 2013, etc.), it gets worse. Hours after meeting the illegal Mexican immigrant Barb Moyer describes as her best friend, Judy gets a call telling her that Rita Lopez-or, as Aunt Barb knew her, Iris Juarez-has been found dead behind the wheel of her car. The East Grove police and the coroner's office say she died of natural causes. Judy doesn't think so, especially once Father Keegan, the pastor of Iris' church, is killed in a convenient hit-and-run accident. How can Judy juggle the demands of the case she's working, the 75 cases she'd rather not work, the unofficial case Aunt Barb has handed her and the domestic drama all these complications are bound to stir up? By kicking major butt in a typically unconvincing third act, that's how. But exemplary first and second acts are enough to make this the most successful melding to date of Rosato & DiNunzio's cases and Scottoline's family-centered stand-alones (Keep Quiet, 2014, etc.).

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September 1, 2014
After taking a few years off to write stand-alones, Scottoline returned to her popular Rosato & Associates series in 2013 with Accused and continues here with Betrayed. Judy Carrier's best friend, Mary DiNunzio, has been made a partner in the law firm and is planning her wedding, but Judy is feeling a bit out of sorts about it all. Her live-in boyfriend, Frank, is driving her crazy, leaving her to wonder about a future with him. When her Aunt Barb is diagnosed with breast cancer, Judy has to deal with that and her deteriorating relationship with her mother. Barb's closest friend is a Mexican illegal immigrant who dies of an apparent heart attack, but Judy finds her death suspicious, especially after discovering a large stash of money squirreled away in her aunt's house. Meanwhile, at work, boss Bennie has dropped a huge caseload of damages claims on Judy, and she finds a rather surprising solution to her dilemma. Scottoline writes terrific legal fiction with warm, smart characters and lots of humor and heart. Her legion of fans will be happy with this one, and it should find her new readers as well. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: An announced market distribution of 400,000 copies and a national author tour will ensure that Scottoline's latest finds her enormous audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2014

With 2013's Accused, Scottoline relaunched her groundbreaking "Rosato & Associates" series, featuring an all-female law firm. Here Judy Carrier (featured in only one other Rosato mystery) is anxiously pondering her personal and professional lives when she must rush to the side of an aunt diagnosed with breast cancer. The death of undocumented worker Emelia Juarez, a friend who had been helping the aunt through chemo, seems decidedly suspicious to Judy. With (not surprisingly) a one-day laydown on October 28.

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