Rating: 
Summary: "Will the real Lisa Scottoline please stand up"
Review: No way can I believe Lisa Scottoline wrote this 'IRRITAING' (at best) story! Major Bummer going on here! I am normally a huge fan of this writer, but not with this one. The only reason I even attempted to finish the damn thing was because I paid good money for it. I am so disappointed. The only redeeming quality in this tragedy of errors was the cover of the book. (lol.)
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre and unrealistic
Review: When I read the inside cover synopsis of this book, I was anticipating a good weekend read... until I got past the first three chapters. "Mediocre" seems to be the definitive word among several of the reviewers. Because from then on, what I thought had potential to be a good page-turning thriller, became just that.While out of town on a holiday weekend get-away, Anne Murphy, an associate in an all-female law firm, comes upon her local newspaper where, upon reading the headlines, learns of her own murder. Obviously, the victim is one of mistaken identity. The rest of the story follows Anne, along with her law firm associates, solving the mystery of her murder. I enjoy reading books featuring strong, female characters overcoming adversities. But in this case, I think perhaps Ms. Scottoline was trying too hard to over emphasize Anne's strength of character. For example, at first, Anne reacts with horror and disbelief -- a normal reaction for anyone in her situation. However, as the story unfolds, she seems to take the whole incident in stride, at times even joking about it. Another thing that makes this story rather contrite and unrealistic is the timeline in which the events unfold. A few months ago, the cast of the popular TV series "CSI" was on Larry King's show, talking about the show's popularity and success, emphasizing it's authenticity. One of the technical advisors to the show stated that everything about "CSI" is true to life... except that crimes such as those depicted on the show are not solved in an hour, referring to the show being an hour long. Well, crimes such as the one depicted in "Courting Trouble" are not solved in three days, let alone with such nonchalance. But then again, this is, after all, only fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, light read
Review: I'm a fan of Ms. Scottoline. And I'm quite happy with her newest book, Courting Trouble. The book is a fun light read. Fast moving and never boring. One of the things I like about Ms. Scottoline's books are that most of them take place in the law firm of Rosato & Associates. What makes this different is that each book deals with a different person in this firm. This one deals with new associate Anne Murphy. Don't worry Mary, Judy, and Bennie are around too. Since Ms. Scottoline makes a different person at this firm the main character of the books, she is always building her characters and giving them a rich background. She has come a long way since her first book, Everywhere that Mary Went. Anne learns that she was killed at home when she was on a little holiday. Anne decides to find her killer while acting dead. And this is the worst best kept secert in the book. First the woman at Rosato & Associates learn the truth, then Anne's client, then the opposing counsel, and finaly the police. With that many people trying to keep it a secert it is amazing she isn't found out sooner. To make matters worse she is being stalked by a guy from her past, Kevin Satorno. Anne plays cat and mouse with Kevin in the city of Philadelphia during the city celebration of the Fourth of July. As the city celebrates our nation birth and Independence, Anne is if fight for her own Independence.
This book reminded me of Ms. Scottoline's earlier book Running from the Law. I found it very funny. Mental Note: Watch I love Lucy reruns. Anne is a Lucy fanitic. And the scene of Judy, Mary, and Anne in red, white, & blue hooker outfits is great. It reminded me something that Janet Evanovich would write. If your looking for a new author to read and you like legal thrillers Ms. Scottoline is a winner.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre With the Potential of Being Great
Review: I am new to Lisa Scottline's line of legal thrillers, but suspense as an overall category is certainly nothing I'm a novice to, so I can tell you one thing about this book right off the bat: The author needs help. From the murder that the book circles around on, it was painfully obvious to me who was responsible for the death of Willa. I was a little surprised that the author did throw in the main suspect at all, but I suppose it was to lead you in one direction. I kept reading. And I was very annoyed. Anne is a beautiful girl from California thrown into Philly because she has a stalker. We don't find out about this stalker for a good three chapters (besides the stray elusive comment). It would seem to me that a stalker would always be one of the largest parts of your life. The book should have built up suspense with Anne always making sure her doors were locked, carrying guns, being a hard-core kick-rear babe. ....But it didn't. Because Anne is flawed. She feels so un-pretty and her poor little self-concept can't quite understand why people hate her. I think it may be all those Mental Notes. (Come on, I wasn't the only person irritated by those.) The book tries to incorporate too much and loses the potential to be truly scary or grotesque. Anne tries to find love and friends, to save her mutilated family. Because of that, the book loses potential in Anne overcoming her fears and taking a stand for herself. I'll admit it kept me turning pages, but that's due to the beautiful imagery and usage of the English language throughout. And don't get me wrong- Anne has some fun quirks to her personality. It's a nice book to read and it is somewhat uplifting, but it makes a mockery of true suspense/thriller novels. I'm not sure if I would read another of Mrs. Scottline's works, but I think I would read this one again.
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, Horrible!
Review: If you are a Scottoline fan this book is a disappointment. Thin plot at best, cardboard characters, action akin to a boring nightmare. Even the girls at Rosario were unreal and, my personal favorites, Mary's parents characters were forced and unbelievable. Do not judge Scottoline's other books based on this stinker. It is almost as if someone else wrote this book.
Rating:
Summary: Summer Read
Review: War and Peace it ain't, and despite the cover notes, I can't imagine this is a book for legal scholars to pour over the finer details of case law or ethical dilemmas. Further, while I'm not beyond appreciating a nice pair of shoes or earrings, it really isn't necessary to describe every single character's wardrobe in every scene. So why the 4 stars? Because as a light and frothy read, the book is excellent. Ms. Scottoline is an excellent storyteller, and any annoyance over the technical flaws is quickly undermined by the desire to find out what happens on the next page. This is an excellent summer / beach / vacation book.
Rating:
Summary: Author betrays readers....
Review: With fiction, it is a reader's obligation to willfully suspend disbelief. However, here, the author continually betrays the reader by constantly challenging the readers ability to willfully suspend disbelief. We have one of the dumbest protagonists in the history of fiction, and we are supposed to believe she is sharp. The protagonist time and again takes stupid chances--the type of things that a charcter in a low-budget horror flick might do. An Irish American cop speaks with a brogue and an Italian American family speaks with an accent and believes in old-country traditions--all in the same book. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Rating:
Summary: Agree With the Overuse of "Mental Note"
Review: Anne Murphy is the defense lawyer in a high-profile trial. She heads out of town to prepare for her defense in peace and wakes up dead. Sort of. The headlines read, "Lawyer Found Murdered," and her picture's plastered all over the front page. And Anne plays dead in order to stay alive. But a twist of fate lands her face-to-face with a colleague from her law firm. Anne confides in her and two other associates and they soon begin their own murder investigation. One name keeps popping into her head: Kevin Satorno. Just one date and he became fixated on Anne. After stalking her, he almost killed her and he was put away as a result. Anne has to catch him herself or the nightmare will never end. There's only one way she can beat Satorno. She has to play him at his own game. The only downfall to this novel is the overuse of the phrase, "Mental Note." Character Anne Murphy has a lot of mental notes and these sidebars tend to detract from the flow of the novel. Overall, "Courting Trouble" is an easy book to curl up with. Anne is an interesting character - good personality with true to life flaws. Her personal story takes interesting turns and it's a nice variation from the woman as a victim theme.
Rating:
Summary: Not horrible, but nothing special
Review: This was my first Lisa Scottoline book, but I have to say that I came away unimpressed. As a thriller, the book barely entertained me. There were a couple of moments of true suspense, but those were spoiled by many other moments where I found myself saying aloud, "Oh, come on . . . ." None of the characters resonate with me as being multi-dimensional. The reader is introduced to lead character, Anne Murphy, with several pages of discussion of how beautiful this woman is. And that's what Scottoline uses to define this woman. Unrelenting beauty which serves to mask the fact that she was born with a cleft lip or some such nonesense like that which is ultimately supposed to really lend depth to this character. Oh, come on. This didn't work for me. I thought a female author would be able to provide some true depth to her lead female character. Instead she dwells needlessly on her beauty, and often indulges in deliberations on fashion. I expected better. I don't know if Bennie Rosato is presented with any more realism in Scottoline's other stories, but she's equally one-dimensional. She's the screaming, ultra-demanding boss who really loves her employees deep down. There's no more and no less to her character than that. Also, the dust jacket makes mention of the fact that Scottoline's books are often used by bar associations to present case studies on ethical conflicts for lawyers, so I assumed that I wouldn't need to deal with silly scenarios that would never happen between opposing counsel in real life. But Scottoline has an attorney becoming romantically involved with her opposing counsel, and the primary concern is how angry Bennie (Anne's boss) is going to be. As if non-disclosure to the presiding judge in their case is not a concern and as if the case would be allowed to proceed with the romantic development. Oh, come on. This book should really only be enjoyed as a brief escape as you're sitting on the beach this summer. If that's all you're looking for, then you'll be fine. As I said, there are some moments that make the book worthwhile and the ending, if handled by a lesser practitioner of suspense could have been horrible, but worked here for me. But, if you're looking for rich characterization and a thriller that will make your head spin, this isn't the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Can't believe this got published
Review: This book is shockingly bad. Virtually every scene made me cringe with embarrassment. I expect to have to suspend disbelief in my light summer reading, but this book was just ridiculous. Just to give an example: in the opening scenes, the protagonist, a beautiful young lawyer, hires a male stripper to get naked in the courtroom to make a point in her presentation to a judge. Instead of getting thrown in jail, the judge grants her motion. This is supposed to demonstrate that she's a gutsy advocate, but it is so beyond anything even remotely in the realm of possibility that it is simply silly. The book goes downhill from there. The characters are flat, the dialog is clunky, and the plot is just plain stupid. I can't imagine that anyone connected with this book actually thought it was good. I can picture the author, editor and publisher sitting around laughing at the readers with contempt and condescension.
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