"The kind folks over at HarperCollins sent me an advance reader copy of Lisa Scottoline's newest novel Devil's Corner. This is another author that I haven't read before, but will probably end up doing catch-up reading on her titles...
Vicki Allegretti is an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and she's due to interview a confidential informant on a case related to an illegal gun sale. But things go horribly wrong when she arrives at the meeting house only to find two guys who have broken into the house and murdered the informant. During the confrontation, her partner is killed and she almost joins him in death before the killers decide to flee. In the process of interviewing leads on the killing, she assaults a prisoner and is suspended from her job. But instead of just taking the safe road, she decides to conduct her own investigation so that the case doesn't get dropped. To get into the parts of the city where the crime occurred, she has to team up with the person she assaulted, and thus starts an unlikely personality pairing that will either pay off or get them both killed...
Scottoline was formerly a trial lawyer and apparently now watches court cases for entertainment (and potential story ideas). Her in-depth knowledge of the legal system and how things actually work shows through in this novel, as I got the feeling that she has been here before. Watching Allegretti try and balance her work and personal life is interesting, as her romantic interest may or may not be all he's cracked up to be. And I really liked the interplay between her and Reheema, the girl she assaulted. Matching up an urban black street-smart girl with a suburban Harvard grad leads to rather sticky situations that neither can relate to but that both have to work through.
Solid writing, good pacing, a story with some meat, and a few plot twists to boot... Can't ask for much more in a recreational crime thriller read."
- Thomas Duff
Vicki Allegretti is an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and she's due to interview a confidential informant on a case related to an illegal gun sale. But things go horribly wrong when she arrives at the meeting house only to find two guys who have broken into the house and murdered the informant. During the confrontation, her partner is killed and she almost joins him in death before the killers decide to flee. In the process of interviewing leads on the killing, she assaults a prisoner and is suspended from her job. But instead of just taking the safe road, she decides to conduct her own investigation so that the case doesn't get dropped. To get into the parts of the city where the crime occurred, she has to team up with the person she assaulted, and thus starts an unlikely personality pairing that will either pay off or get them both killed...
Scottoline was formerly a trial lawyer and apparently now watches court cases for entertainment (and potential story ideas). Her in-depth knowledge of the legal system and how things actually work shows through in this novel, as I got the feeling that she has been here before. Watching Allegretti try and balance her work and personal life is interesting, as her romantic interest may or may not be all he's cracked up to be. And I really liked the interplay between her and Reheema, the girl she assaulted. Matching up an urban black street-smart girl with a suburban Harvard grad leads to rather sticky situations that neither can relate to but that both have to work through.
Solid writing, good pacing, a story with some meat, and a few plot twists to boot... Can't ask for much more in a recreational crime thriller read."
- Thomas Duff
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