Everywhere That Mary Went (Paperback)

by Lisa Scottoline (Author) "All rise!..." (more)
Key Phrases: making partner, Bitter Man, Miss Pershing, Mother Superior (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
An Edgar Award nominee (for her first legal thriller, Everywhere That Mary Went), Lisa Scottoline actually won the Edgar for her follow-up, Final Appeal. With five legal thrillers behind her, Scottoline--a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School--has joined the league of lawyers-turned-literaries.

Her voice in Final Appeal is crisp and wry; of the law clerks in her office, the narrator declares that she's got "pantyhose with more mileage ... and better judgment."

Lawyer and single mom Grace Rossi has taken a part-time job in a federal appeals court. Her lover and boss, the chief judge, is found dead, and Rossi plays the sleuth. As her previous bestsellers, Scottoline can create feisty female characters who struggle with a variety of issues, producing a fast-paced, well-structured read. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly
This tale of corporate intrigue centers on Mary DiNunzio, a lawyer on the partner track at one of Philadelphia's top law firms, and her secret admirer/stalker. Mary, stressed by nature of her occupation, first shrugs off silent phone calls to her home and office that are eerily in sync with her comings and goings. Soon, however, when she starts getting personal notes, too, she starts to suspect her co-workers. When Brent Polk, her good friend and secretary, is killed by a car that's been following Mary around, she goads police detective Lombardo to check for similarities between his death and that of her husband a year earlier. Soon follows a chain of strange discoveries: after sleeping with friend and associate Ned Waters, she finds anti-depressants in his medicine chest; Ned's wife-beating father manages a rival law firm; a partner has been tampering with her files. An increasingly paranoid Mary cuts off relations with Ned, whom she suspects of being her stalker. But she doesn't act on her suspicions until it's nearly too late and she must fight for her life. Lawyer Scottoline's first novel is an engaging, quick read, sprinkled with corny humor and melodrama in just the right proportions.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (December 4, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 000710488X
• ISBN-13: 978-0007104888
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,258,581 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Rosato and Associates Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mary's no lamb, December 23, 2000

By	booknblueslady (Woodland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everywhere That Mary Went (Mass Market Paperback)

Lisa Scottoline in her debut Everywhere That Mary Went introduces feisty Mary DiNunzio of South Philadelphia. Mary is a recently widowed, soon to be made partner of a prestigious law firm. Mary is also being stalked. She is receiving prank phone calls, notes and being followed by a car. She is getting spooked and beginning to wonder if the stalker could have been the hit and run driver who killed her husband.

She has two good friends who are very interesting characters, Brent, her secretary and Judy, fellow lawyer. She also has a new love interest who she is afraid may be the stalker.

Overall the book is a well planned and paced mystery, with characters who are interesting and entertaining. Book is not deeply intellectual, but that is not why one would read a book such as this. It has good entertainment value.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Mystery That Nails Big Law Firm Life , July 30, 2005

By	Beth Fox "Beth A. Fox" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Everywhere That Mary Went (Mass Market Paperback)

With intelligent humor and an eagle eye trained on life in the trenches of big firms, Scottoline delivers a can't-put-it-down mystery centering on a litigator in Philadelphia. Recently-widowed Mary DiNunzio, who now shares her apartment with only an indifferent cat, starts receiving strange messages and telephone calls. When she is followed by an unknown person in a non-descript dark car, and her apartment is entered, things start becoming alarming. Since Mary is up for partnership at Stalling & Webb, she suspects that the culprit may be a competitor, or someone else who is attempting to thwart her ambitions.

The novel's best feature is its on-the-nose description of law firm life. Any female litigator who has spent some time in court will wince with recognition at the opening chapter. One need not have been actually forced to sing to recognize the hubris of certain judges as it is played out in motion practice. And how's this analysis of how a firm runs:

"I walk back to my office. I've done my job, which is to make Martin look good. That's why he goes alone to Berkowitz's office, to take credit for the writ. Likewise, since Martin's raison d'etre is to make Berkowitz look good, he'll let Berkowitz take the credit when he telephones Harbison's General Counsel. Because Berkowitz has made the GC look good to his CEO, the GC will send him more cases. ASAP. And partners who bring in the most business make the most money."

Game, set and match.

My only slight disappointment with this book is that while you will keep guessing "who done it," the ending is somewhat contrived -- it does not make too much sense that the guilty party would be who she or he is. As in all good mysteries, however, the ends are neatly tied up. This book is a great first novel by one who would soon thereafter win an Edgar.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I would follow Mary anywhere!, August 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Everywhere That Mary Went (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a terrific book and, amazingly enough, Lisa Scottoline's first novel. Ms. Scottoline has the amazing ability to write books that move at the speed of lighting and yet are filled with interesting, complicated characters.

Mary is so real that you will feel that you know her. The same is true of all the supporting characters. I've read the book twice and enjoyed it both times.

The solution to the mystery is genuinely surprising. (And I'm a seasoned mystery reader and am not often surprised.)

Be sure to read all of Ms. Scottoline's other books as well. You don't have to love mysteries to enjoy them!