Mistaken Identity - Softcover

Lisa Scottoline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006499953 ISBN 13: 9780006499954

Publisher: Harpercollins Pb, 2000

Synopsis

Another riveting courtroom thriller from the female John Grisham. Crack trial lawyer Bennie Rosato is called to the local prison to consult with Alice Connolly, a woman accused of committing cold-blooded murder and who wants Bennie to represent her at the trial. Bennie has no intention of taking the case, until she comes face to face with Connolly: the incarcerated woman is a dead ringer for Bennie -- and claims to be her long-lost twin sister. Disbelieving but somehow convinced, Bennie takes on the case against her better judgement, and starts sniffing out the corruption and dangerous cover-up that lies at its centre. Mistaken Identity builds from a startling opening to breathless suspense, the kind only bestselling author Lisa Scottoline can deliver.

About this title

Review:

When confronted with the most challenging and the most personal case of her legal career, Bennie Rosato--an expert on police corruption--questions everything she has learned as a criminal attorney, and everyone she considers to be family. During a visit behind the bars of Philadelphia's Central Corrections facility, Bennie is shocked to discover that an inmate bears a striking physical resemblance to herself. The prisoner, Alice Connolly, stands accused of murdering her cop boyfriend Anthony Della Porta, and the case reeks of a police conspiracy. Connolly convinces Bennie to defend her in court. Bennie feels confused, intrigued, and even somewhat elated by this clone of herself, and dives head first into a bubbling cauldron of corruption, drugs, murder, and assault--mixed in with a thought-provoking subplot that questions the intricacies of legal ethics.

Mistaken Identity is Lisa Scottoline's sixth and tastiest dish yet. The book is gripping and smart, and it brings into bloom the highly likable character of Bennie Rosato, who made her debut appearance in Legal Tender. Bennie has her vulnerable moments--we witness this when, in some emotional scenes, she doubts the authenticity of her twin. Still, Ms. Rosato is no shrinking violet, especially when it comes to exposing the questionable goings-on of Philadelphia's Eleventh Precinct.

Scottoline keeps us in a bubble of suspense--is Connolly really Bennie's twin? Did she murder Della Porta? If not, who did and why? The author neatly ties all our unanswered questions together into a perfectly formed bow, and keeps us frantically turning pages until the very end. --Naomi Gesinger

From the Back Cover:

Bennie Rosato thought she had seen it all—until she meets her new client, Alice Connolly, who looks exactly like Bennie and tells her, "Hello, I'm your twin." A shocked Bennie can't deny the uncanny resemblance, but she grew up an only child and assumed she didn't have a sister, much less an identical twin. But Alice seems to know too much for it to be a scam, and Bennie can't walk away. She agrees to defend Alice on a murder charge and plunges into the mystery of the crime—unraveling a twisted skein of lies, greed, and danger that jeopardizes her livelihood and ultimately even her life. At the same time, she uncovers the truth of her own identity, a secret that will leave her questioning everything she ever knew about her family—and herself.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins Pb
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0006499953
• ISBN 13: 9780006499954
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 512