Accused: A Rosato and DiNunzio Novel

Accused: A Rosato and DiNunzio Novel (Book 1) by Lisa Scottoline      AudioBook:10 hrs, 54 mins          Mass Market Paperback:  432 pages              

Didn’t realize when I picked the first Lisa Scottoline crime fiction novel up that it was part of a series, nor even when I picked this, my second taste of Lisa’s  thriller murder mysteries and another home run.   GREAT BOOK!   In this the first in this series, lawyer, Larry DiNunzio makes partner in her firm.   While celebrating that with her colleagues, a 13 year old girl, Allegra Gardner, who has recently received access to her substantial trustfund comes in to interview the Rosato and Associates team to see if she want to hire them to re-open the case of her older sister, Fiona’s murder case.    Allegra is quirky and keeps bees which she is all about.   She has bees in some form on all of her clothes, she maintains hives, collects honey, and there is a hilarious adventure where Allegra is put into a mental institution by her parents who think she has lost her mind believing her sister’s case needs to be re-opened during which time, Allegra has ordered 2,000 more bees by mail and Mary DiNunzio and her Dad and the 3 Tony’s – her Dad’s  best friends who are like Uncles to Mary go to the mansion to get Allegra’s bees situated so they don’t die while she is institutionalized.    What a roadtrip!    So much occurs and again, you don’t know the who of the whodunit until the end.    So many people could be the culprit and the factors are certainly against the young man incarcerated with a life sentence though he maintains his innocence.   Is Allegra OCD and unwilling to accept the truth?   Is she mentally unbalanced as her parents contend or by hiring Mary to track down the truth will the absurd stories Allegra tells be found to hold truth?    Or will Mary finally throw her hands up in the air and run screaming after her boyfriend, Anthony surprises her with an engagement ring that she isn’t ready for while his mother coerces Mary into agreeing to wear her hideously ugly wedding dress down the aisle while Mary’s own mother agitated starts harping in Italian that no, Maria is to wear Her wedding dress which is so high necked it appears like a neck brace attached to a nun’s habit made of silk all the while Mary and her best friend are on the outs and she has no one left to vent to about all the craziness rushing in on her at once while trying to investigate a seemingly futile case that she isn’t even getting paid to do because Allegra’s Dad is putting a kibosh on the Trustfund seeking a new overseer for Allegra’s inheiritance.   Wooo!   So much happening and so entertaining.   DO READ THIS SERIES.    I recommend this series to everyone, young or old, male or female.   Great reads here.

 - Shirley J.