Lady Killer (Rosato & Associates, #12)

Mar 10, 2008 Jeanette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: lawyer-fiction, all-fiction

Scottoline used to be more legal thriller and less chick lit, but she seems to have reversed the balance in this one. Cute story, but the protagonist (Mary DiNunzio)does virtually no lawyering in this story. She's more like a cross between super sleuth and secret squirrel.

Kinda silly in a way, but fun to read. The "Mean Girls" from when Mary was in high school come to her for help, and they act like they're still in high school, even though they're in their 30's. She throws in a lot of humor, an...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lady Killer is the first novel ive read by Lisa Scottoline and will not be the last. The story revolves around lawyer Mary DiNunzio who is confronted by an old adversary from her school years Trish Gambone at her work. Trish is very scared and wants Mary's help feeling her life is under threat from her boyfriend who has connection with the mafia. Mary tries to help her but cannot convince Trish to go to the police. The next day Trish goes missing and Mary feeling guilty for not doing more and be...more

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Apr 05, 2008 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pennsylvania-mystery

04/05/08
TITLE/AUTHOR: LADY KILLER by Lisa Scottoline
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Mystery/2008/491 LP pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: #12 in the Rosato & Associates series
TIME/PLACE: Present/Philadelphia, PA
CHARACTERS: Mary DiNunzio/attorney
FIRST LINES: Mary DiNunzio sat across from the old men, deciding which one to shoot first.

COMMENTS: Library book. It was good to be back w/ Mary and the gang. Mary is very busy helping folks from the old neighborhood and can't keep everyone happy. She ge...more

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Feb 11, 2009 Chuck rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have to admit that Scottoline is probably my favorite living author of legal thrillers. My favorite are her "Rosatto and Associates" series; these all center around an all women law firm in Philadelphia. It stays fresh because the different associates are the main characters in different novels, and so point of view changes. It's interesting to read an entire novel from the point of view of the out of state young lawyer from California, and then to read another from the point of view of a nati...more

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Nov 28, 2008 Alissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: staff-suggestion, 2008

Mary DiNuzio is back! It’s been four years since Lisa Scottoline wrote a book featuring Rosato & Associates. I’ve been a fan of these books for years and I was looking forward to another great mystery (even though we shelve them in Fiction, and they’re probably more thriller, than mystery - although Mary did more independent sleuthing than I remember, maybe a new twist Lisa’s going to take her on?), and Lady Killerdid not disappoint.

Trish Gambone, her high school rival, comes to Mary for hel...more

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Mar 11, 2012 June Ahern rated it 4 of 5 stars

My first time read of author Lisa Scottoline –“Lady Killer”. Attorney, Mary DiNunzio, an associate at the Bennie Rosato's firm, practices in her hometown of Philadelphia. She’s smart, uncertain about her choice of profession, highly regard by the residents of her old neighborhood who keep her in business – including her father. Mary is close to her parents, going there to eat good home cooking Italian food by her mother and finding comfort when the going gets tough.

The story begins with Mary’s f...more My first time read of author Lisa Scottoline –“Lady Killer”. Attorney, Mary DiNunzio, an associate at the Bennie Rosato's firm, practices in her hometown of Philadelphia. She’s smart, uncertain about her choice of profession, highly regard by the residents of her old neighborhood who keep her in business – including her father. Mary is close to her parents, going there to eat good home cooking Italian food by her mother and finding comfort when the going gets tough.

The story begins with Mary’s father who wants to sue because of derogatory things said about Dean Martin by a Frank Sinatra fan group. Also, a bit about helping a friend with her young son. That part seemed very much out of place to me and I felt disconnected by it when it sporadically came up. But the real plot begins when Trish Gambone, an old high school classmate and tormentor (leader of the Mean Girl’s in HS), shows up in trouble. She lives with Bobby Mancuso, a Mafioso and claims to be a victim of domestic violence. Mary doesn’t really want to get involved because of the Trish, and the Mean Girls did made Mary's high school life miserable. Mary gives Trish some legal advice and is worried for her classmate's safety, but sends her on her way. Then Trish disappears, and the three other Mean Girls come storming into Mary’s office causing mayhem and chaos, demanding Mary explains why she didn’t help one of her homegirl’s.

Mary does and risks everything to find her, including her job at the firm. She becomes involved with the police and FBI. Can she redeem herself in the eyes of her neighborhood, make some peace with the Mean Girls and survive the mob?

There is a bit of a love interest for the widowed, Mary. Nothing was said about Mike her former husband’s death and maybe is in an early book. Will look.

The plot was good and the dialogue great and funny! Some parts, like finding out Mary’s dark past secret, were a big glossed over emotionally, but heck on with finding Trish.

I have one of Scottoline’s other books and into 20 pages, am enjoying it too.
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Sep 14, 2011 Carre rated it 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: In order to appreciate this book fully, you need to listen to the audiobook version read by Barbara Rosenblat. I usually "read" (okay, listen) to audiobooks while I clean my house. I spackled and primed my whole dining room to this one. I think I've found a new favorite author to tide me over in the years when Sue Grafton isn't publishing another Kinsey Milhone installment in her Alphabet Murder Mystery series. The downside is that author Lisa Scottoline's books seem to be stand-alon...more Disclaimer: In order to appreciate this book fully, you need to listen to the audiobook version read by Barbara Rosenblat. I usually "read" (okay, listen) to audiobooks while I clean my house. I spackled and primed my whole dining room to this one. I think I've found a new favorite author to tide me over in the years when Sue Grafton isn't publishing another Kinsey Milhone installment in her Alphabet Murder Mystery series. The downside is that author Lisa Scottoline's books seem to be stand-alones, which is a pity because I could read a series about the heroine of Lady Killer forever.

Mary DiNunzio is a young-ish, widowed attorney from the Italian 'hood of South Philly. A quintessential Catholic Nice Girl. (Re: Brazilian Waxes: "She didn't think the words "Catholic" and "Brazilian" belonged in the same sentence, unless you were saying, "Many Brazilians are good Catholics.") When Trish, one of the Mean Girls from her Catholic high school looks her up all these years later, to tell her that her mobster boyfriend is trying to kill her, Mary experiences a crisis of nostalgia...and not all of it very nice. She'd like to ditch Trish and her clique of Mean Girls but she's tied to the case by a thin thread...she used to date the mobster in question, and she just can't seem to look the other way. When Trish goes missing and the boyfriend turns up dead, Mary throws up everything--including her job--to get to the bottom of the case, for the sake of a girl who treated her terribly in high school.

It's a good mystery, meaning I didn't guess the ending halfway through. And the setting (South Philly, enmeshed Italian neighborhood) really draws the reader in. (Barbara Rosenblat's voices are more...South Jersey. Or maybe Brooklyn. But I didn't care about that.) The characters are great: very flawed-yet-lovable...yet not so lovable that the Marys among us don't give a quiet cheer when bad things happen to them. After all, have any of us ever gotten over the Mean Girls from our own high school years?

I'll definitely be looking up more of Lisa Scottoline's books. Today, if possible. And if they're narrated by Barbara Rosenblat, my house may end up being cleaner than it's been since Sue Grafton's last mystery came out in audiobook.(less)

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May 04, 2011 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery-thriller

In preparation for a beach vacation, I went to the local library to pick through the paperback shelf. I'd seen Scottoline's titles quite a bit at the bookstore where I was working, and when I spotted Lady Killer at the library, I thought, Hmm, seems just about the right speed for beachside reading. This was my first Lisa Scottoline book, and it turned out to be a great pick - excellent for the beach, a fast, fun read, and an author I'll clearly be going back to.

The story centers on Philadelphia...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Diane A Brown rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thrown feet first into New York City’s darkest side, the horror and brutality of life flood your imagination. A murderer without conscience, without regret, without a second thought is on the loose. Silently deceptive, cool and calm, the Ladykiller is both cunning and efficient. There are no obvious clues, no clear patterns and no easy answers for Detective Dave Dillon. A haunting mistake from the past makes this his last chance for redemption. The son of an Irish cop, Dillon is stubborn, intuit...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Nic rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: popular-materials-class

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a book that really, really wanted to be written by Janet Evanovich, but wasn't.

It wasn't horrible or anything, but honestly, I probably wouldn't have finished it had I not been required to read a best-seller from after 1990 for my Popular Materials class . . . by tomorrow. :P

A few weird things going on here, like how the book doesn't give away Bobby's name for a really long time for no apparent reason.

I did like a few scenes, like when Anthony has to co...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Antof9 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-read, good-for-decking, immigrants, italy, junk-food, liberry, mysterious, forgettable

So first, I just have to say that Mary DiNunzio is part Stephanie Plum and part Kinsey Milhone. I like both those chicks ok, but not necessarily enough to think that we need another one of them on the planet. That is, this book was ok but didn't blow my skirt up. I think I had higher hopes for Mary, maybe, from reading "Think Twice". I can't even tell you why I thought I'd like her better, but in general, she just sort of bugged me.

Her family and friends are all caricatures from a specific neigh...more

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Nov 05, 2009 BarkLessWagMore rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, mystery

Mary DiNunzio is an attorney who is dismayed when former mean girl Trish walks into her office and demands her help. Apparently her boyfriend (who just so happens to be Mary's former love) has become abusive and she fears for her life and has nowhere to turn. Mary makes a few suggestions but Trish refuses police intervention because her boyfriend is in the mob and will kill her. What she expects Mary to do then escapes me . . . but she stomps out of Mary's office in a huff and soon after disappe...more

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Aug 27, 2009 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mary DiNunzio — South Philadelphia attorney, good Catholic girl and dutiful daughter — is an over-worked lawyer. That we know in the first couple pages. Now her father wants to sue a woman from The Neighborhood for saying disparaging things against Sinatra. She is also dealing with finding assistance for a learning-disabled boy and his desperate mother.

Just when you think she has too much on her plate, and old high school bully, Trish, shows up and claims she is being abused by her boyfriend (wh...more

Mary DiNunzio — South Philadelphia attorney, good Catholic girl and dutiful daughter — is an over-worked lawyer. That we know in the first couple pages. Now her father wants to sue a woman from The Neighborhood for saying disparaging things against Sinatra. She is also dealing with finding assistance for a learning-disabled boy and his desperate mother.

Just when you think she has too much on her plate, and old high school bully, Trish, shows up and claims she is being abused by her boyfriend (who as it turns out used to date Mary as well) and she would like a restraining order against him. Reality is, the boyfriend is in the mob and a restraining order would not help matters. Mary tells her this, and Trish storms out.

Of course Mary can’t help but feel a bit triumphant that Trish, the girl who “flunked Religion, chain-smoked her way through Spanish I twice and reigned as the quintessential Mean Girl,” is looking for assistance from her, “the myopic, straight-A president of the National Honor Society, the May Queen, and the all-around Most Likely to Achieve Sainthood.” Maybe her life has turned around after all.

In spite of the fact that Trish wants Mary’s help, she still has not learned that you catch more flies with honey. It takes only a few minutes for Trish to revert to insulting Mary and making her feel like the “Holy Mary” she was in high school.

Even after Trish walks out of the law office, Mary does everything humanly possible to try to find her once she is claimed as “missing” from her friends and family. She practically drives all over the state following the mob trying to find her as public opinion is that Trish’s mob boyfriend has killed her.

I won’t say more about the plot of the book as I really do feel this is a must read. It is very nicely written and believable. There isn’t anything written that would make you think twice as to whether it would really happen that way.

Two things about this book annoyed me though. One is what I would consider a biggie, while the other not so much.

In multiple place the phrase “Mary tried not to get discouraged” appears so many times in the it becomes annoying to read and we think Mary is weak or a downer or something. If it had only appeared once I would have nodded and thought “yeah really, who wouldn’t think that” But it appeared about four times. After the second time, I started thinking: “Well maybe you should just go home if you are such a downer”.

The second thing is on page 323 “she was supposed to call him back three years ago…” appears. I’m pretty sure this was meant to say three DAYS ago, as she was out looking for Trish for three days in the country and her cell phone wasn’t working and she was staking out houses. This sentence made me stop and re-read it over and over which made me lose my momentum. So even if it isn’t a mistake, it is poorly placed. This book flows very easily, so when you are forced to stop and re-read something it is pretty jarring.

I must say however, that I found no (at least not glaring) spelling mistakes. I know this should be a no brainer as editors are paid for just this reason, but you would be amazed how often it comes up.

LADY KILLER is a fun book with lots of adventure. I would recommend this book to everyone who likes a good, easy read with a twist at the end.
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Apr 12, 2012 Samantha Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have read only one other Lisa Scottoline book before this one and I have to say I am now a fan of this author. I enjoyed both books. I liked this book, though not as much as the other Scottoline book I read before. I thought the book featured well developed characters and I thought the book touched on interesting issues. I hesitate to give this book more stars because while I liked this book I didn't love it. It isn't the kind of book where the story or the characters will stick with me. It wa...more

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Jun 01, 2012 bookczuk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio, bookcrossing

I like Scottoline for her strong female protagonists complete with flaws, humor, and the stories that entertain. This was a great travel ear-read, with some real moments of humor. It's a return to the Benny Rosato law firm characters, with Mary as the lead. I know there will be Stephanie Plumb comparisons, but I still like the South Philly gang, even if they do resemble some of the NEw Jersey crowd. It's okay. The world is big.

Two things I really liked about this edition of the audio book. One...more

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Aug 04, 2009 Mackenzie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, 2009

Of all the books I've read that were written by Scottoline, all the same characters are found in each. For me, just the way she writes, I find my self getting more attached to each character every time I read. You see all their quirks and at times I feel like I am them, and I'm risking it all along with them. It's great.

Trish Gambone, Mary DiNunzio's high school rival, enters Mary's office unexpectedly seeking help from an abusive boyfriend who she thinks is going to kill her. Mary tries to help...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Stephanie Reiner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Thrown feet first into New York City’s darkest side, the horror and brutality of life flood your imagination. A murderer without conscience, without regret, without a second thought is on the loose. Silently deceptive, cool and calm, the Ladykiller is both cunning and efficient. There are no obvious clues, no clear patterns and no easy answers for Detective Dave Dillon. A haunting mistake from the past makes this his last chance for redemption. The son of an Irish cop, Dillon is stubborn, intuit...more

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Aug 19, 2009 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another book I read due to lack of anything else to do. This wasn't entirely predictable...I mean, yes, there was the obligatory love interest to inject some romance into the novel, but the mystery side of it was surprising and not what you expect. Apparently the author wrote other books featuring some of these characters, which I didn't realize until afterward, but you don't need to read any of the others before reading this one. It stood alone just fine and I followed everything that happened...more

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Jul 21, 2010 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: legal-thriller

I read this out of order. That's a problem with a series by an author, information relevant to the main character comes from earlier books.

Mary DiNunzio, the subject of Scottoline's earlier books beginning with Everywhere that Mary Went, has been a prolific business developer for Rosato and Associates. Please read Killer Smile before Lady Killer, and a lot of things will become clear.

Starting with a small spat between neighbors in Mary's south Philadelphia neighborhood, Mary's businss begins to...more

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Feb 04, 2009 Penny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Scottoline is one of my favorite legal thriller authors. This novel's main character is Mary DiNunzio an associate in the law firm of Rosato & Associates. She is the Mary in Scottoline's "Everywhere That Mary Went" and the protagonist in several other of Scottoline's books.
Drenched in the ethnic culture of an Italian-American heritage, burdened with the "Catholic Guilt" of her childhood and surrounded by family and friends (and some not so friendly acquaintances) from her south Philadelphia...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult

This was my first Scottoline novel, which I picked up after Dominique Browning highly recommended it in her Feb 2012 NYTimes article "Learning to Love Airport Lit." It was definitely fun -- smooth writing, great dialogue, lots of humor, and a mostly persuasive/likable characterization of the protagonist, lawyer Mary DiNunzio. I don't usually like Mob-related crime stories, so I was happy that the Mob elements ended up being less important than the personal relationships. DiNunzio's sleuthing got...more

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May 22, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

CD/Unabridged/Fiction/Book 7 or 12(?) of the Mary DiNunzio series. I listened to the first book of this series a while back. In that one, Mary is part of a cutthroat law firm and the narrator was very matter of fact. This story takes place years later and I have not read or listened to the ones in between. Mary is back in the neighborhood working for a small firm. By this book, Mary has regressed in her emotions and unsure of herself. She is now a widow, but happy being a peon associate at her l...more

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Mar 12, 2009 Lychee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Not my favorite by this author. Pretty lukewarm story imho. Can't quite put my finger on what's missing. Not sure if it's because I'm concurrently reading an Elizabeth George mystery.

One thing I do like is how the author features different main characters from a set of characters that revolve around a women-owned Philly law office. In particular the protagonist from her earlier novels is now often portrayed as the boss of the more recent novels. And there is often a bit of tension between the co...more

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Apr 30, 2010 Malia rated it 3 of 5 stars

I listened to an audiobook version of this--an okay mystery made very good by an excellent reader. If you like to listen to books as well as read them (great for driving/housecleaning/mindless chores- hey! another way to get books into my day!) then listen to anything read by Barbara Rosenblat. In Lady Killer she has loads of fun with all the South Philly accents-men, women, children--angry, laughing, sarcastic--her reading nailed the emotions as well as the accents. Midway through the story I w...more

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Jul 13, 2009 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, romantic-suspense

I liked this book and I thought that the mystery surrounding Trish disappearing was very interesting.

I didn't realize that this was a series of books, well not a series but that characters are recurring. I'll have to go back and see if I missed any that had Mary in it.

The only issue I had was some of the language. Three of the characters were supposed to sound "ghetto" I guess is the word I'm looking for. And sometimes Mary started talking like that. I found it annoying and not necessary to the...more

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Aug 14, 2009 Sandra Larson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Scottoline is a new author for me and it was great fun reading this book. I'm a native Californian who visits in the Philadelphia area frequently and this will book is wonderful in descriptions of what I have observed in the people there who seem a great mix of really tough and bright and warm but in a way that is very different from California. I loved the "tension" between the mean and the nerdy girls of high school and the "growth" in understanding and appreciation in their later years. And i...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Jodi rated it 3 of 5 stars

The main character Mary was a lawyer at a law firm. She and her boss had a strange relationship. Mary was a quiet girl who got picked on in high school. One day her arch nemesis arrived at her office asking for help. Trish wanted help with her boyfriend who she said was trying to kill her. He was connected to the mob and she was scared. Mary tried to get a restraining order but Trish refused. Trish went missing and the whole neighborhood was mad a Mary. The boyfriend ended up dead and everyone t...more

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Jun 10, 2010 Tracie rated it 2 of 5 stars

I checked out this book on cd mainly because it was read by Barbara Rosenblat. But even her superb reading could not rescue this story from the plodding pace. My 27 year old daughter kept pleading with me to skip some tracks so we could hopefully get to the good stuff. Which finally happened in the last 3 cds--both the skipping, and the finally getting to the good stuff. There were many funny moments along the way, and several "life" points to ponder, but there is no way I would have stuck with...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Marty rated it 4 of 5 stars

The second book by Lisa Scottoline that I have read, the two most recent entries in the Rosato & Associates series after she too a five year break from that series (this according to the acknowledgements at the end of the book). I enjoyed this one a lot. Although it still has occasional oddball characters and scenes, it is more of a conventional mystery and the lead character, Mary DiNunzio, is less likely stray into Stephanie Plum-like behavior.

Liked it and I'll be looking for others in the...more

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Jul 22, 2009 Lindsay rated it 2 of 5 stars

so my dad listens to audiobooks because he's dyslexic and he travels a lot. as a result, he's the best-read person i know who almost never picks up an actual paper book. we were driving between oklahoma city and nashville last week when we started this potboiler about lawyers and petty mobsters in south philly. i tried to ignore the book and read my own, but i got sucked in anyway. :) fun read, good pacing, if formulaic. don't know if i'd pick up another book by the same author, but it was an en...more

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Lady Killer (Rosato & Associates #12)

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