Mistaken Identity (Rosato & Associates Series, 4)

Bennie (Benita) Rosato has managed to get herself into hot water with the Philadelphia Police Department on more than one occasion. In fact you might say the cops hate her. Could it be because she almost always wins in court and that she usually takes on police misconduct cases? So when someone accused of killing a cop wants to change attorneys at the last minute, a switch to Bennie might seem to make good sense. However when Alice Connolly, accused of killing police detective Anthony Della Porta, declares that her current counsel is incompetent a week before she is to go on trial and says she wants Bennie to defend her, she's apparently looking for something more than competent counsel. Bennie goes to the prison to interview Alice, but she's not prepared for what she finds. Alice proclaims her innocence, or course, and says she was framed by the police, but what knocks Bennie for a loop is the fact that Alice looks like a prettier, albeit streetwise, version of herself. She claims to be Bennie's twin and has some strong evidence to prove it, however Bennie isn't convinced. However there's one person who could prove it one way or another, and that's Bennie's mother, but unfortunately she's not much help, given her mental illness. So Bennie, with a week's notice, has to decide whether she's going to save her self-professed twin from the screwed up defence she's been getting so far. It's her sister (or is it?) after all, so there's a lot of interesting tactics bandied about to try and save Alice from her appointment with the needle, helped along by the biased rulings and demeanor of the judge. Is there a conspiracy afoot? Was the deceased detective involved in drug dealing? Can Bennie put the personal aspects of the case aside and be the calm and cool lawyer she must be? When you go into a courtroom in one of Ms. Scottoline's books, it's like you're both observer and participant, prosecutor and counsel for the defense. It also doesn't hurt any that Scottoline can draw you into her characters and make you care about them with just a few words, that she paints scenes on her pages so real, you feel like you're there.

Bennie (Benita) Rosato has managed to get herself into hot water with the Philadelphia Police Department on more than one occasion. In fact you might say the cops hate her. Could it be because she almost always wins in court and that she usually takes on police misconduct cases? So when someone accused of killing a cop wants to change attorneys at the last minute, a switch to Bennie might seem to make good sense. However when Alice Connolly, accused of killing police detective Anthony Della Porta, declares that her current counsel is incompetent a week before she is to go on trial and says she wants Bennie to defend her, she's apparently looking for something more than competent counsel. Bennie goes to the prison to interview Alice, but she's not prepared for what she finds. Alice proclaims her innocence, or course, and says she was framed by the police, but what knocks Bennie for a loop is the fact that Alice looks like a prettier, albeit streetwise, version of herself. She claims to be Bennie's twin and has some strong evidence to prove it, however Bennie isn't convinced. However there's one person who could prove it one way or another, and that's Bennie's mother, but unfortunately she's not much help, given her mental illness. So Bennie, with a week's notice, has to decide whether she's going to save her self-professed twin from the screwed up defence she's been getting so far. It's her sister (or is it?) after all, so there's a lot of interesting tactics bandied about to try and save Alice from her appointment with the needle, helped along by the biased rulings and demeanor of the judge. Is there a conspiracy afoot? Was the deceased detective involved in drug dealing? Can Bennie put the personal aspects of the case aside and be the calm and cool lawyer she must be? When you go into a courtroom in one of Ms. Scottoline's books, it's like you're both observer and participant, prosecutor and counsel for the defense. It also doesn't hurt any that Scottoline can draw you into her characters and make you care about them with just a few words, that she paints scenes on her pages so real, you feel like you're there.

Don't miss this book if you enjoy a good, fast-paced read with a legal bent to it. The review from Kirkus Associates does a much better job of describing the book than I can, so I'll leave that to them. Had never read any of Lisa Scottoline's novels before, but after finishing MISTAKEN IDENTITY, I immediately ordered her previous novel, ROUGH JUSTICE.Ms. Scottoline's characters are real, and it doesn't take long to realize that she writes from personal experience and observation. She has been described as the " female John Grisham," but that description doesn't do her justice. Like Grisham, her past legal experience has paid off with her ability to create some very believable characters.Lisa also has an interesting Web site at http://www.scottoline.com. and it's worth the visit to learn a bit more about the author. You'l' find a message board and online reviews there as well. That's where I found out that MISTAKEN IDENTY has evidently been optioned for development into a television series.Looking forward to reading all of her previous novels.

"Mistaken Identity" is Lisa Scottoline's sixth and best book yet. This former Edgar Award winner gets better with every novel. "Mistaken Identity" and "Rough Justice", her previous novel, bring back previous heroines -- Bennie Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, and Judy Carrier. It is most enjoyable to see the character of each of these three lawyers continue to develop.In "Mistaken Identity", Lisa makes excellent use of her legal background to depict courtroom scenes as only a lawyer could. The plot itself is unique in that Bennie finds herself defending a prisoner, Alice Connolly, who claims to be Bennie's twin. Although the book is almost 500 pages, it is an extremely fast read. As in all of her novels, the suspense is non-stop, from beginning to end.In her "Acknowledgements", Lisa reveals that she did not discover until she was in her thirties that she had a half-sister. So, the book has a special meaning for her. She has meticulously researched the subject of twins and provides the reader with five references for additional information.Lisa has a marvelous website . Months ago, readers were given an opportunity to edit the first chapter of "Mistaken Identity". This additional dimension to Lisa's creativity further bonds the reader to an outstanding author.

I am a big fan of Lisa Scottoline, especially of this one. What a great story. Lots of twists and turns. Great ending.