Accused: A Rosato & DiNunzio Novel (A Rosato & DiNunzio Novel, 1)

I always enjoy the personalities of the characters and how they intertwine their personal lives with solving crimes. The beginning setting up the story was intricate, but in the end necessary. The Tony’s add a light touch of “family” always there for the ride. Often in the way but with good intentions. Fun read as always.

I'm an old fan of Lisa Scottoline and always enjoy her books. This one was very good, as expected. However, I have some issues with the character development in this story. Her fiancé', for one, is not as 3 dimensional as I would prefer. In fact, he is darned near perfect, demonstrating unlimited patience in Mary's ridiculously long hours and wavering enthusiasm toward their soon-to-be wedding. This, along with his understanding and compassionate reaction to her bowing out of several "dates" left me wondering where the author dreamed up the idea for this perfect guy. Very few real life people are as forgiving and accepting as her fiancé. I also felt that her parents and the supporting characters of Tony, Tony, and Tony were a little too Italian stereotypical. Although the Tonys provided some comic relief in the storyline, I would truly prefer to see a little more realism and full character development. It's still a good read, and it's still a good story, so don't deprive yourself. It's just my opinion that this is not her best book.

I liked this book. What's did I like about it? It involves family, murder , love, suspense and the law . Who could ask for anything more.

Hard to give a low rating as I usually love this author and the characters. This one, however, was more of a madcap comedy and didn't gain my interest until the last 20%. Mary DiNunzio is on a mission to prove a self confessed murderer innocent. The storyline was far-fetched and didn't do these well loved characters justice. I trudged through it thinking it would get better. There are better Rosato and DiNunzio stories out there so don't waste your time on this one.

I have read and enjoyed several books in Lisa Scottoline's Rosato & Associates series about an all female Philadelphia law firm and after a fairly long break was keen to read another book in the series. Mary DiNunzio has always been one of my favourite Associates because she is bright as a button but frequently lacking in self-confidence and closely tied to a strange but very loving Italian family.Mary is no longer an Associate - she has become a partner in the firm with Bennie Rosato. Everyone at the partnership celebration is happy and Bennie wants to change the firm's name to "Rosato & DiNunzio", but Mary doesn't yet have the self-confidence to take that step. She is also worried that her live-in boyfriend, Anthony Rotunno may be getting a more serious about their relationship than she can cope with and is basically happy but surprisingly disturbed when Anthony gives her an engagement ring.Mary's first client as a partner is Allegra Gardner, a daughter of a very rich Philadelphia family. Sounds easy doesn't it - until Mary finds that Allegra has just turned 13 and is using her Grandfather's trust money to hire a lawyer without family approval to investigate who killed her elder sister Fiona six years earlier. The other problem is that Lonnie Stall pleaded guilty and was imprisoned for the murder of Fiona. While Allegra is mega-intelligent, representing a minor without the support of her parents is a challenging task.During the investigation Mary is challenged at every turn by Allegra's parents and has to use all of her skills and connections, including her loving but somewhat dysfunctional family and friends, to get close enough to the case to find out what really happened. At the same time in the background she has to face up to planning her forthcoming wedding which is being dominated by her difficult future mother-in-law, Elvira (who Mary nicknames "El Virus") .I really enjoyed some of the earlier books in the series but this one focusses too much on the trivial especially when Mary's gets her family involved in Allegra's hobby of beekeeping to get contact with her family. Much is made of finding parking spots and buying doughnuts, the DiNunzio family friends ("Pigeon" Tony,Tony "From-down-the Block" and "Two-Feet" Pensiera), Anthony's mother Elvira ("El Virus") and and of course the wedding plans.I did enjoy the book but it lacked the courtroom dramas of other books in the series and as it progressed I felt sidetracked by the trivial so didn't enjoy it as much as some of the earlier ones featuring Mary DiNunzio.

Boy this was such a great read. Kept me up til late at night trying to see what happens next. I really enjoyed this book. Can’t wait to read the next one

As soon as I read family with many business interests I knew. Too much of the Italian thing, could lose a lot less of all caps and stereotypes. Skimmed through it for the ride but not one of her best

This was a great read. Kept me guessing til near the end. Lisa is one of my favorite authors. I feel like I know these characters as I read it.

Very amateurishWon’t read any more of the seriesLisa does better stuff

Thank you for the speedy delivery of my book. I enjoy these novels very much.

1st class

Enjoyable read.

ok