Accused is the latest novel Lisa Scottoline featuring Rosato & Associates. Mary DiNunzio is celebrating her recent promotion as a partner in the Rosato & Associates law firm when a thirteen year old seeks her counsel in the murder of her older sister. Six years earlier, Allegra Gardner's sister Fiona is murdered at the age of sixteen.
Allegra is anxious to exonerate the man who stands accused of her murder. Against her better judgement, Mary agrees to take the case. Although there is a lot of evidence and a guilty plea to exonerate the accused, Lonnie Stall, it does not dissuade her belief in his innocence. As she begins to dig deeper and deeper into what really happened that fateful night, family secrets surface, intricately woven lies unravel, and Mary's own life hangs in the balance.
Lisa Scottoline couples an intense legal thriller with all the required twists and turns with heartfelt moments that make you believe in the power of family. There are two types of families represented in Accused. We have Mary's loving Italian family that borders overbearing at times while on the other hand Allegra's family seems so distant and uncaring. Mainly they're unsure of how to move forward and are still grieving. Mary can see the hurt in Allegra and becomes way too emotionally involved in a case that even her best friend says she shouldn't take on.
This isn't the first novel I've read by Scottoline so I expected a fast moving mystery thriller that would have me glued to its pages until it's conclusion. Scottoline delivers on giving fans what they expect in the Accused but there is generally nothing groundbreaking about this title. Even so, fans of legal thrillers and of hers will want to read this. I very much enjoyed becoming acquainted with Rosato & Associates. ***
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