Review by Booklist Review
When the partners in the law firm of Rosato & DiNunzio Bennie Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, and Judy Carrier are served with a reverse sex-discrimination lawsuit, they're certain that the suit has been manufactured by Mary's archenemy, legal shark Nick Machiavelli. But when they stage a press conference to defend themselves, they (along with the rest of Philly) learn that their associate John Foxman has inadvertently fueled the fire by telling local attorneys that he will never make partner at Rosato & DiNunzio because he is male. Ignoring the partners' pleas, John resigns. That night, he is murdered in his apartment, and Judy, who had been secretly dating John for months, becomes the prime suspect. She, after all, was the last person to see him alive, and his neighbors report that they argued loudly all evening. Mary takes Judy's case, skillfully working her South Philly connections in an effort to uncover Machiavelli's plot and exonerate her best friend. Series fans and newcomers alike will revel in the partners' fierce loyalty, served up with an endearingly humorous slice of South Philly family life. A sure bet for legal-thriller fans. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The 400,000 announced market distribution will ensure that the latest in this wildly popular series gets quickly into the hands of a devoted readership.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In bestseller Scottoline's thought-provoking sixth Rosato & DiNunzio novel (after 2017's Exposed), three men complain to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission that lawyers Bennie Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, and Judy Carrier declined to hire them because of their gender. Though false, the allegation will be difficult to disprove-particularly since Rosato & DiNunzio's lone male associate, John Foxman, told one of the accusers that he feels marginalized at work. Mary, who's seven months pregnant, believes that plaintiffs' counsel, ruthless South Philly lawyer Nick Machiavelli, manufactured the litigation, but she can't fathom how or why. The firm's defense attorney, Roger Vitez, claims to have everything under control, but when John is murdered and one of the partners becomes a suspect, Bennie, Mary, and Judy refuse to stand idly by. Colorful characters, breezy writing, and a sharp wit keep the tone light, while the ever-increasing stakes propel the story toward a convenient but otherwise gratifying denouement. Scottoline insightfully explores the challenges facing powerful women at work and at home. 400,000-copy announced first printing. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
It had to happen sooner or later: Philadelphia's premier, mostly female legal partnership, Rosato and DiNunzio, gets sued for sex discrimination.Just because Bennie Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, and Judy Carrier have hired John Foxman as an associate doesn't mean they can't be sued by Stephen McManus, Michael Battle, and Graham Madden, who claim that they're not willing to turn the firm any more male than it is. Nick Machiavelli, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, has gotten evidence that John's felt like an outsider while he's on the job, and since Machiavelli is already holding a grudge against Mary, that's good enough for him. Beginning with the accusatory press conference he convenes, things rapidly go from bad to worse. John quits the firm, leaving Judy to carry the ball alone in pressing their little-guy client London Technologies' case against superrival Home Hacks. Then he gets himself murdered, and Detective Jason Krakoff, of Philadelphia Homicide, quickly ascertains that Judy had been dating John until they broke up, within the hearing of witnesses, an hour or two before the murder. The London Technologies plaintiffs start wavering; the partners can't turn on the television without seeing Machiavelli crow; a predatory freelance reporter starts dogging the heroines; and Judy looks dead in the waterthough Scottoline (Exposed, 2017, etc.) finds little time to develop those last two possibilities because she's preoccupied with tracing the effects of all this stress on Mary's late-term pregnancy. Not even a mother's love could triumph over the dark doings laid out with such professional relishor so you'd think if you didn't know the formula, which dictates a sudden late-breaking turn from incredibly bad luck to incredibly good.Synthetic as all get-out, from the scenes with Mary's oh-so-Italian family to the unlikely events that bring about the amazingly happy ending. But Scottoline, who obviously knows her readers inside out, hits every mark, and the results are never less than pleasurable, down to the last satisfying twist. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
