Product Description

Nothing can prepare criminal attorney Bennie Rosato for her new client, Alice Connolly, accused of murdering her lover, a highly decorated police detective. Connolly, who bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Bennie, tells the astonished lawyer, "Pleased to meet you. I'm your twin." But Bennie grew up an only child. She doesn't have a twin.

Or does she?

Bennie takes the case and plunges into the mystery of the murder, as well as the secret of her own identity. Not until the verdict is in will she finally learn the truth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83340 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-01
• Released on: 2000-02-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 592 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061096112
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com 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 Publishers Weekly
Double jeopardy is more than just a legal term in this taut and smart courtroom drama by Edgar Award winner Scottoline. Bennie Rosato, the irrepressible head of an all-female Philadelphia law firm, moves to center stage after playing a supporting role in the author's previous novel, Rough Justice. Bennie's client is tough, manipulative Alice Connolly, charged with murdering her police detective boyfriend, who may or may not have been a drug dealer. Complicating matters is Alice's claim to be Bennie's identical twin sister and to have been visited by their long-lost father. Despite her wrenching emotional reaction to this revelation and her mother's deteriorating health, Bennie puts her personal and professional life on the line, immersing herself in the case. She enlists the aid of her associates, Mary DiNunzio and Judy Carrier, as well as Lou Jacobs, a cantankerous retired cop she hires as an investigator. They discover that a web of corruption may have enveloped the prosecuting attorney and judge who are now trying Alice's case. Scottoline effectively alternates her settings between prison, law office, courtroom and the streets. Readers familiar with her previous work will enjoy the continuing evolution of the characters' relationships. Judy is still the bolder of the two associates, her experiences highlighted this time by an amusing venture into the seamy world of pro boxing. But Mary, until now a timid and reluctant lawyer ("Maybe I could get a job eating"), emerges from her shell. Scottoline falters occasionally by resorting to ethnic stereotypes, particularly in her dialogue, but generally succeeds in creating a brisk, multilayered thriller that plunges Rosato & Associates into a maelstrom of legal, ethical and familial conundrums, culminating in an intricate, dramatic and intense courtroom finale. Agent, Molly Friedrich. Major ad/promo; author tour. (Mar.) FYI: Mistaken Identity is one of the six books excerpted in Diet Coke's marketing campaign.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Former trial lawyer Scottolines legal thrillers (Legal Tender, LJ 7/96; Rough Justice, LJ 8/97) have earned her the Edgar Award and an enthusiastic following. In this latest adventure of Philadelphia attorney Bennie Rosato, Bennie has a week to prepare a homicide defense in a death penalty case for Alice Connolly, who claims to be her lost twin. Then a man named Winslow appears, saying he is her father. Bennies shrewd investigative work convinces her that they are indeed family. Thrown off balance by thinking as a daughter and sister instead of a lawyer, she regains her equilibrium to reveal a police conspiracy and bust a corrupt judge. Scottoline deftly sketches her courtroom characters, and prison is so well described that readers are in there with Alice. A rare false note is the too-frequent presence of swarming news crews and in-your-face reporters. In the end, Bennie learns that family is about love, not blood, and the poignant and powerful relationships that render her vulnerable boost this mystery well above the norm. Highly recommended.
-Molly Gorman, San Marino, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

TWIN--WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU???
This is the 6th Lisa Scottoline book I have read and except for some loose ends and sometimes the language, I think it is the best one I have read. Bennie Rosato is a very good lawyer, she is contacted by Alice Connolly who claims to be her twin. Alice is in jail for a murder she says she did not do. Bennie takes the case and then begins to uncover a conspiracy between the cops involved an attorney and even the judge. A retired cop, named Lou, is very helpful. I hope he is used again. The case goes to trial, you don't know until the last if Connolly is guilty or not or is she is a twin to Rosato or not.And after the trail, what happenes to Connolly. It all has a very good twist to the ending, at least one I did not expect. The action moves better than some of her other books and I enjoyed it very much. Would love to write the ending as it is very shocking but you will have to read the book.

My first book by Lisa Sottoline definitely not the last!
The book is a real page turner. A curve ball when not expected and a slider when you expect a curve. She keeps you guessing right up to the end.....her legal detail is excellent and story telling outstanding. I do think I know a better place for steak sandwiches....in Roxborough but that is my only complaint! Keep writing Lisa!

Great book - kept me up all night!
Don't miss this book if you enjoy a good, fast-paced read with a legal bent to it. The review from Kirkus Associates does a much better job of describing the book than I can, so I'll leave that to them. Had never read any of Lisa Scottoline's novels before, but after finishing MISTAKEN IDENTITY, I immediately ordered her previous novel, ROUGH JUSTICE.

Ms. Scottoline's characters are real, and it doesn't take long to realize that she writes from personal experience and observation. She has been described as the " female John Grisham," but that description doesn't do her justice. Like Grisham, her past legal experience has paid off with her ability to create some very believable characters.

Lisa also has an interesting Web site at http://www.scottoline.com. and it's worth the visit to learn a bit more about the author. You'l' find a message board and online reviews there as well. That's where I found out that MISTAKEN IDENTY has evidently been optioned for development into a television series.

Looking forward to reading all of her previous novels.