Killer Smile – Lisa Scottoline

This book starts much like a thriller, menacing phone call, things lurking in the shadows. But then it transforms it self into an historical investigation and a mystery.

Mary DiNunzio is hired to do a pro bono case and investigate the death of an Italian man in an internment camp in America during World War II and seek reparations. The man she is investigating reminds her of her late husband and she can’t help trying to find everything she can about that old case. Soon she discovers that Amadeo’s death may not have been suicide and at the same time she starts being stalked by unknown persons which she feels are related to the case.

I really liked to learn about US history during the XX century. Scottoline’s grandparents were both considered enemies and interned in such camps so she seems to know what she is talking about.

Then I really enjoyed the mystery and how Mary kept adding up the clues to be more close to Amadeo’s real story, there is no real suspense but the case was interesting enough to keep me reading. I think the ghost was a bit unnecessary, at least for me it would have worked better without that paranormal reference. The climax is the court scene at the end of the book where both Mary and the reader are surprised by one witness’s testimony.

The humorous note in this book is in the bunch of blind dates Mary’s friends set up for her and her observations about those dates. I couldn’t help compare the background to the Stephanie Plum books, after all all the main characters are Italians here to. They seemed more real to me and less like a caricature.

I’m sure I’ll be picking up another Scottoline book soon. After I finished this one I realised it’s part of a series about the all-female law firm in which Mary DiNunzio works, now I’m looking forward to read the others in this series. A B+