Final Appeal

First of all, I must confess that I'm a huge Lisa Scottoline fan. I haven't read all her books in order which is why I'm reading her second book that she wrote way after I've read a lot of the others. I was really hooked into this book in the first 50 pages or so. You meet the main character of the book, Grace Rossi as part time employee of the Chief Justice of Appelate Court. She is a mother of a young child and a lawyer. She falls for her boss and then while looking at deciding a death penalty case dies. Is it suicide or is it murder? I really got into the nuts and bolts of the cases and the interaction between Grace and her co-workers. I feel this is Lisa Scottoline's best quality in her writing. She truly makes you feel and care about her characters. However the last 50 pages were kinda a letdown for me. Ms. Scottoline does a very good job at getting you to believe it is one way and then turns it. The twist didn't really make a lot of sense though. I felt it was very rushed and not believable. I hated the Shake and Bake Character and found him to be the most unrealistic character that Ms. Scottoline has written in the books I've read. He didn't help the storyline out a lot. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick legal suspense novel. It's a quick and easy read.

Doesn't it just figure? I find a Scottoline that I like pretty well, and it's one her fans in general dislike. Grace Rossi is a lawyer and a single mother, working as an assistant to a judge she's attracted to. It seems the attraction is mutual, and he asks for her help on a death sentence appeal, praising her abilities. Then one night they're working late and act on their attraction. The next morning, the judge is found dead, and his death is ruled a suicide. Grace is understandably reluctant to believe that, and so she begins investigating on her own, and soon finds herself in over her head. She's assisted by a variety of characters, including an office manager with a big secret, and a deep-undercover FBI agent. The suspects are similarly varied. Mostly, it's just an entertaining, twisty whodunit. I didn't quite believe the romance between Grace and the judge, but that was a fairly minor point, and more of a plot device to give her a reason to pursue the case in the face of danger and objections.

Despite some of the criticism of this novel, I found "Final Appeal" an altogether enjoyable read. It's told in the first person by Grace Rossi, a single mother working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a newly-appointed assistant to the hot chief judge, Armen Gregorian. Just hours after their one-night stand, Armen allegedly commits suicide, but Grace is reluctant to accept this, despite their relationship being just a superficial roll in the hay--or office, in this case. Instead, she spends the duration of the book tracking down his killer, with some help from Shake and Bake (one of my favorite characters), an FBI agent leading a double life as an eccentric raincoat/bonnet-wearing derelict (thus his nickname). As a mystery, "Final Appeal" wasn't very suspenseful (no major life-and-death scares until around the climax), but it was a fast, easy read, which reminded me of some of James Patterson's work. The dialogue was realistic, though the profanity made the characters sound like they were in a high school locker room rather than a courtroom. Still, this was a nice, fluffy legal thriller full of dry wit and humor. I look forward to reading more by Scottoline.

final appeal was my first scottoline book and i must say i was very pleased with the story...it was a light read with an interesting plot and some believable characters...it wasn't the best mystery story...but the day i read it had been hectic and stressful and this was the perfect solution...i was able to fall into the story without investing a lot of myself to the tale...i will purchase other books by this author...and if you're looking for a new author, check her out...she's kinda like diane mott davison and magaret maron....

It is easy to see why Final Appeal won the Edgar Allen Poe award! It's pace is swift, the plot line totally believable and Ms. Scottoline's characters are so real you speculate about them long after you finish this delightful novel. One can only hope Grace Rossi appears in another Scottoline novel soon!