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51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mary's no lamb, December 23, 2000
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.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Mystery That Nails Big Law Firm Life, July 30, 2005
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.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent but not great, January 14, 2006
Mary DiNunzio is an associate at a reputable Philadelphia law firm and is arguing a motion in court for the second time. She is nervous, but well prepared. When the judge embarasses her by making her sing her client's jingle in open court she is reminded of how hard she has to work to impress and succeed in a profession dominated by men. She workes tirelessly everyday while also dealing with the memory of her husband who was killed less than a year prior in a hit and run car crash. When Mary wins her motion she is, at first, elated, but when mysterious unsigned notes start showing up in her mail she worries that they might be tied to a recent string of hangup calls she is receiving. Then her male secretary is killed before her eyes in a hit and run crash that is eerily similar to the death of her beloved husband. She takes comfort in the arms of Ned Waters, coworker and law school classmate. But what she initially takes for love and affection may prove to be more than is appropriate in a healthy relationship. Mary finds herself looking over her shoulder trying to determine who, if anyone is out to get her and what their motive is. All the while, she is focused on preventing these threats from interfering with her continuing on the law firm partership track. This is Lisa Scottoline's first novel that introduces Mary and Judy Carrier, each who play prominently in this series of legal thrillers that features strong female lawyers. The book is an easy read and fairly entertaining. I also continue to enjoy how Scottoline changes the narrator and point of view for each book, but continues to include the same cast of characters and revolve around their interactions and legal achievements. The downside of this book is that it is very reminiscent of her novel Courting Trouble which I happened to read prior to this one. Maybe it is more accurate to say that Courting Trouble resembles this book given the order in which they were written, but it was disappointing to read this one and wonder if I had actually read this book before, or if it was just extremely similar and familiar to some of the others. This series continues to be entertaining, but it is not particularly fantastic. Scottoline's plots are not overly original and sometimes her heroine's are a bit weak, but overall they are page turners and worth continued reading.
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