Mistaken Identity (Rosato & Associates Series)

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