What do You think about The Vendetta Defense (2002)?
Judy Carrier of the all woman law firm Rosato & Associates finds herself defending a 79 year old Italian friend of her Italian friend Mary's family- Pigeon Tony- who admits he killed Angelo Coluzzi, the man who once murdered his wife in Italy because she chose to marry him instead of Angelo and then the year before had killed his son Frank and his wife Gemma in an accident that was sloppily processed by police and thus got away with it. The two men had been alone in the back of the pigeon racing club when Angelo told Pigeon Tony he had not only killed his wife and son and daughter in law but also planned to kill his grandson Frank. Tony had run at the arthritic 80 year old with brittle bones and this caused his neck to break. Judy feels like she is fighting a losing battle when the police seem uninterested even when her home is burglarized and her car is bombed. She and her Golden Retriever puppy must run for their lives and Judy runs right into the sexy Frank. Tony is an idiot and keeps wanting to tell the judge and jury that he killed him and all of this makes poor Judy nuts. All in all, there is humor, mystery, danger, murder, and romance all rolled into one. I loved it!
—Terri Lynn
Her Best Yet -- Humorous, Suspenseful, Satisfying...Yet another of the (Ms.) Bennie Rosato law firm associates is our leading lady in Scottoline's latest and greatest -- namely Judy Carrier, Mary DeNunzio's best friend (Mary herself on "sick leave" recovering from bullet wounds suffered in Rough Justice...). The premise here is that Tony Lucia ("Pigeon Tony", from his expertise with homing pigeon racing), on trial for murdering a life-long rival, Angelo Coluzzi, admits to the "killing" but not to the "murder". Will the jury buy that fine line -- that somehow this death was justifiable given that Coluzzi killed Pigeon Tony's wife decades ago in Fascist Italy, and killed his son and daughter-in-law in a fake auto accident here in America, where the two families immigrated to none other than Scottoline's regular stomping ground, South Philly.In the process of unfolding that story line, we get some obviously well researched description of Italy in the Mussolini era, rich with imagery and character development (eventually respun for the jury's benefit as well...). We get glimpses of life in the Italian "sector" of South Philly, using Judy's stream of consciousness to make it fun as opposed to stereotypical, with Pigeon Tony's handsome grandson thrown in to (finally!) give Judy a little welcome sex life, only adding to the character development and good time had by all. Lastly, Bennie herself adds a little to the courtroom machinations, to liven up a case that looks winnable until Pigeon Tony insists he wants to "talk to the judge" (testify).That's why we liked this book a lot -- it's a really good mix of writing ingredients, from a compelling story that you want to come out a certain way, to really good characterizations of people easy to like, with plenty of suspense and humor thrown in to really entertain throughout. We were also pleased that some of the lapses into very implausible action (lawyers tailing criminal's cars, or fighting against their own clients) that characterized some of the earlier works in this series were finally absent from the book at hand. Lastly, we keep hearing (we guess from the publisher's blurbs) that Lisa's books are being used for classroom debate, and we suspect this one will as well, if the legal "mores" angle interests you.So -- sounds like a little something for everybody all wrapped up in one "5-star" addition to the genre. Watch out, John !
—Jerry
I like Lisa Scottoline. I genuinely do. This is the first lawyer-y book of hers I've read, but her memoir books are comedy gold. Plus I listen to the audiobook, rather than read them, and her voice is just so damn pleasant and Italian.Unfortunately, this is just not my kind of book. It's frustrating, because the plot is actually good. I enjoyed Judy, and Pigeon Tony. I didn't care as much about the Frank-as-boyfriend plot (Dear Ms Scottoline: Please don't use the word "lover". Don't make me hate you.), but it still worked.I liked the suspense of the Caluzzi's coming after Judy. I liked the dog. I liked the birds. I didn't completely despise the flashbacks to fascist Italy.I loved the courtroom scenes at the end. That part I really got into, more than any other part of the book. But getting there felt like a long process.I can't say I'll never read another crime novel by Ms Scottoline. But I definitely won't reach for one before I reach for a humor book by her. She is talented, and should be read. Whatever one's taste is.
—Bunny
