I love this series but somehow the books featuring Mary DiNunzio aggravate me in many ways. I like the Judy Carrier and Bennie Rosato stories better. Mary is an Italian Catholic and is always so stereotyped as feeling guilt (Catholic guilt) over everything, being timid, and doing stupid things. In this book, supposedly she never liked being a lawyer which is in direct conflict with earlier books in the series where she loves her job. I am also annoyed at her calling herself a "girl lawyer." Let's have a show of hands- how many of you have EVER heard a male lawyer of age 30 or so call himself a "boy lawyer" or even a thirtysomething female lawyer call herself a "girl lawyer." This is a series about an all woman law firm. The lawyers should take themselves seriously as adult lawyers. This entry into the series features Mary trying to help the Brandolini estate recover damages from the US government for his losses when put into a concentration/internment camp for Italians (even American citizens)during World War II (something done to German-Americans and Japanese-Americans too). She soon discovers that Brandolini, a man who couldn't read or write, who was a fisherman had invented a sort of latch applicable not only to boats but to other applications and worth millions and that his best friend from South Philly who was also in the camps (a food truck driver) murdered him for it, made it look like a suicide, then made tens of millions on it. The old man is dying now but his trophy wife and his adult son and their goon are willing to kill to keep the money flowing (a big sale is coming up). There is a side story about Mary who was the widow of a murdered man being forced by her co-workers and family to go on blind dates. She doesn't want to-she still grieves Mike and is absorbed in work- but allows herself to be pushed around. This was really annoying. There also was a trip to Montana where she supposedly has never gone out of state or ridden a plane yet in past books she had done both. Also, Bennie put up a $100,000 bond for her on a case yet in the last book the firm almost went bankrupt. What? That was goofy. There was another side story about a nutcase calling and threatening Bennie and then Mary that is prominent at times then forgotten then comes back. Oh and another side story is her mom has cancer. Mary does some really good research work despite being plagued by a reporter, getting no help from police or her co-workers, being nearly killed, doing stupid things, having bad blind dates, and having to help a nurse who is attacked for what she saw happen to Mary at the hands of the bad guy's family. I still liked the story but wish I was her editor!
OK, I won’t make any claims about this being Serious Literary Fiction, but I have yet to find another writer that can make a lightweight read as redeeming as Lisa Scottoline. As a fan for several years, I’ve been working my way through the back catalog -- if I’ve counted right, this is the 14th Lisa Scottoline novel I’ve read so far -- and Killer Smile comes out as one of my top faves. Scottoline pulls off a neat little trick here. Killer Smile is as easy-reading a page turner as any of her other books, but there’s a very respectable degree of substance in there, too. Sure, there’s all the usual peril elements of a Scottoline mystery, but in this case, the central whodunit cannot be unraveled without an extended trip into the history of US WWII internment camps. While this is not the first of Scottoline’s novels to bring in some serious real world history (see, e.g., The Vendetta Defense, where the plot reaches back into Mussolini-era Italy; and Dirty Blonde, which surely was the first time most readers had heard of the Centralia, PA, coal seam fire) it may be the most poignant, with some of the details drawn from the real personal history of Scottoline’s own grandparents. In addition, all of the familiar elements I’ve come to expect from Scottoline are there: a female-centric narrative, warmly drawn characters, and lots of local Philadelphia references. And although Scottoline’s law-firm-setting novels rarely go heavy on the legal points, the resolution of the plot here even relies on some clever lawyering -- bonus!But actually, I think the biggest surprise of this book is that it’s provided me with my new favorite quote, delivered by Mrs. Nyquist, in Montana, over huckleberry pie: If you can’t be brave, be determined. And you’ll end up in the same place.
What do You think about Killer Smile (2005)?
So ... I'm not sure what I really need to write for a review on these types of books. It's fun, it's lite, it's a mystery, and it's Scottoline, so there were clogs :)A couple things, though:1. I think I liked Mary best in this one (of the Scottoline's I've read so far). Even though she was more Kinsey Milhone (Grafton "Alphabet" series) than anything, and there was way too much beating her up, I felt like I got to know her better, and ...2. found out I'm a lot like her. Why? Right when I was reading one of the many comments about "old people like me", I happened to be making friends with old people while my husband was having physical therapy after rotator cuff surgery :)3. I think this might be why I liked this Mary one the best, and of course, it's why I put it on the "made me cry" shelfHe shuffled to her and offered her his arm, bunchy at the elbow, where his brown car coat wrinkled in its worsted way.Mary stopped, struck. It was just the way he always offered his arm, down the shore, when they were about to walk the boardwalk to get soft ice cream. Or when they were about to walk down the aisle, on her wedding day. Or at Mike's funeral. now, he offered it to steady her. Pick her up. Retrieve her. Help her. He had always been there, offering his arm. When she was little, it was practice, and later, it was support. That arm was the greatest gift a father can give a daughter, and he gave it to her, without question, and always.'nuff said.
—Antof9
Another winner for Ms. Scottoline.I discovered her work and began reading some of her previous novels maybe 6-8 months ago. I immediately became a huge fan as Ms. Scottoline moved to the brink of one of my 5 favorite authors. I hate to admit this but her newest novel, ‘Every 15 Minutes,’ I was very disappointed in. I like to think every author, even the great ones, are allowed one or two weaker novels and I attribute ‘Every 15 Minutes’ to one of those. I recently finished ‘Killer Smile.’ Another winner.Killer Smile, like most of her books, are not only interesting, engaging , exciting and yes, real page turners, but also FUN to read. I cant think of too many novelists whose books, while being good, are also fun reads.In addition to the solid characters, realistic dialogue, twists and turns, it’s an emotional roller coaster. One minute you can be laughing, one minute later you can be on the edge of your seat and a minute after that, dabbing a few tears away. I read many different authors and only three have ever moved me to shed a few tears. Ms. Scottoline is one of them.
—Rob1109
In the 9th installment of Lisa Scottoline's Rosato & Associates legal thriller series, Killer Smile, Mary DeNunzio ended up in her toughest case yet. While she prepared to take a deposition for one of her latest cases for the firm, she wound up embroiled in a complicated and complex investigation for her latest case for Amadeo Brandolini's estate. First, she dealt with a harasser on the phone, while she looked into the probe of Amadeo's life, which lead her back to the 1940s, during World War II. And friends and family tried to fix her up with blind dates, when she'd gotten herself into a bind or two. She learned a lot about his life before his death, which was ruled by a "suicide by strangulation." The more she dug herself into it, while it might've bordered on obsession, the more she wound herself in peril from Montana to back to Philly. When the truth came out, it had disturbed more than a hornet's nest, while she won victory in the end.
—Kristen
