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Maverick lawyer Judy Carrier takes the lead in a case that's more personal than ever. Judy has always championed the underdog, so when Iris, the housekeeper and best friend of Judy's beloved Aunt Barb, is found dead of an apparent heart attack, Judy begins to suspect foul play. The circumstances of the death leave Judy with more questions than answers, and never before has murder struck so close to home. In the meantime, Judy's own life roils with emotional and professional upheaval. She show more doesn't play well with her boss, Bennie Rosato, which jeopardizes her making partner at the firm. Not only that, her best friend Mary DiNunzio is planning a wedding, leaving Judy feeling left behind, as well as newly unhappy in her relationship with her live-in boyfriend Frank. Judy sets her own drama aside and begins an investigation of Iris's murder, then discovers a shocking truth that confounds her expectations and leads her in a completely different direction. show less

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20 reviews
I’ll readily admit, I’m betwixt and between on this one. BetrayedWe all like to get involved with the characters in a book and in a series, such as Scottoline’s Rosato & Associates, there are a few we really like such as Judy Carrier, the non-conformist of the bunch. We like to see them grow and change over time. We like to get into their personal lives, not just the legal or mystery aspect. But sometimes, the personal life intrudes too much, as it did in Betrayed (at least for me), especially when the mystery portion isn’t all that compelling.

Judy has just received some shocking news–her Aunt Barb has breast cancer and is undergoing a mastectomy in two days. She’s kept it a secret from Judy and her mother, Delia. Judy races show more to her home. Delia has already flown in from the West Coast. When she arrives, she meets Aunt Barb’s best friend, Iris Juarez, an undocumented Mexican who does chores for Barb and gardens with her. Iris is just leaving for another job.

Later that evening, the police knock on Barb’s door with the sad news that Iris had an apparent heart attack while driving and died at the side of the road. Barb is devastated. Avid gardeners both (Iris and Barb), Barb decides to plant a rose in Iris’ memory and asks Judy to go into the garage to find the bush that she and Iris were going to plant that weekend. Ever the curious lawyer, Judy stumbles across two coolers and looking inside one finds a significant amount of money—later determined to be almost $10,000. Of course, Judy thinks/realizes that Iris’s death and the money are related, leading to, in this reader’s humble opinion, a truly unbelievable, unrealistic story.

So, why am I betwixt and between? Because towards the end there were some touching family related scenes between mother and daughter. And those few pages were emotional enough to salvage what otherwise was an average tale.

A side plot concerns new business the firm received–determining settlement amounts for victims of asbestos. Unfortunately, they are on the manufacturer’s side, not the victims’, thus their goal is to minimize damage payments. Since Judy is concerned about her aunt and whether she will survive surgery and possible radiation, determining the ‘value of human life’ is not something Judy wants to do, is totally against the firm taking the business and her actually handling the settlements. While this would have been a more compelling story, it is wrapped up way too easily and totally unsatisfactorily, in my opinion.

As I said when reviewing The Burning Room by Michael Connolly, I think series authors get tired. There’s an expectation of a new book every 12 – 18 months, so they write but their enthusiasm wanes and that’s how I felt about Betrayed. I just didn’t feel any author enthusiasm.

Let me close by saying that if you think I’m getting persnickety in my old age and nothing will please me, I have read some great mysteries in the past year. Gripping stories. Great writing. Endearing characters. They are out there. Maybe just not from the old tried and true authors we’ve been reading for years. (Sermon over.)
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½
This is the second novel in the Rosato & DiNunzio series but it focuses on one of the associates, Judy Carrier. It also explores why Mary made partner while Judy did not and what Bennie expects from Judy in order for her to make partner. Unfortunately, Judy doesn't relish the cases Bennie secured on her behalf, and they come at a time when Judy has a family emergency related to her aunt--a family emergency that Judy doesn't share with her boss.

I hate to say it, but I am starting to think of Scottoline's heroines as "smart women who do stupid things even when they should know better" and apparently the police force in and around Philadelphia is too stupid to solve cases without the help of the lawyers in Scottoline's world.

I don't show more really understand why Judy didn't want to tell her boss what the family emergency was (even on the day that her aunt was having a mastectomy) or why she didn't push harder to have the deposition scheduled for that day postponed. show less
Now I am a confirmed Lisa Scottoline fan! I have read her Keep Quiet book last March and loved it and really loved this one, Betrayed. Her pacing is great, the story and characters are well developed. The story is suspenseful and a fast read. It is one of those books that you feel so sorry that you finished it. This is the first book in this series that I have read and I had no trouble picking up the thread of relationships.

The main character Judy Carrier is an attorney working for all woman firm. She was hoping to make partner but got passed over in favor of best friend, Mary DiNunzio. Her boyfriend, Frank De Luca lies with her but there are no plans for marriage. Judy has always had a closer relationship with her Aunt Barb than her show more own mother. She has not figured out why she is that way with her mother and just what kind of relationship she has with her boyfriend.

Judy and her mother are shocked to learn that Aunt Barb has stage II breast cancer. They are at Aunt Barb’s house when they meet Barb’s new friend, Iris Juarez. Judy is happy for her aunt to have a close friend that she rely but Judy’s mother is shocked and bewildered that Iris is an illegal alien. Iris gets a phone call and rushes off to work and is found dead in her car. It seems like a heart attack to the police.

Money laundering, mushroom growing and a drug cartel make this story pick up speed. Judy’s life is in danger. She sticks to her promise to her Aunt Barb to check out Iris’s death. Was it natural causes or could it have been murder? Also Judy walks into a deep secret that her family has been hiding from her. This book covers a lot of controversial and highly emotional topics.

I highly recommend this exciting mystery to everyone who loves mysteries they can’t stop reading.

I received this Advanced Reading Copy from the publishers as a win from First Reads. That in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in my review.
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Mary DiNunzio, head-strong Philly attorney, has finally made partner and fellow attorney, Judy Carrier, feels a little left out; her best friend is now her boss. Not sure where she’s going to fit in with the new pecking order, and overloaded with asbestos damage cases sent over by a New York law firm, Judy jumps at the chance to visit her favorite aunt Barb, even though she’ll have to gear up for some family drama, since her mother, who’s had a frosty relationship with Barb at the best of times, will be there too.
Little does she suspect what she will discover. Along with the shocking revelation of Aunt Barbara’s diagnosis with breast cancer and impending surgery, there is the matter of Barbara’s close friend and housekeeper, show more Iris, an undocumented immigrant, who is found dead in her car later that evening of an apparent heart attack.
Judy, with her nose for investigation, suspects foul play. When things take a dark and violent turn as she digs deeper, it looks less and less like a heart attack was the cause of death. Most of the area’s immigrant workers are in the county illegally: the police know it and are looking the other way . . . perhaps, Judy suspects, because they are paid too. When Judy unearths a connection between Iris’s best friend going missing and more questionable financial dealings at the business where she worked, she is lucky to get out alive.
Determined not to let the grass grow under her feet and fall back into the mundane happenings once she’s able to return to her practice, Judy makes some life decisions that have repercussions for everyone at Rosato & Associates, thus setting up an interesting start for the next novel in this exhilarating series.
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Mary DiNunzio, head-strong Philly attorney, has finally made partner and fellow attorney, Judy Carrier, feels a little left out; her best friend is now her boss. Not sure where she’s going to fit in with the new pecking order, and overloaded with asbestos damage cases sent over by a New York law firm, Judy jumps at the chance to visit her favorite aunt Barb, even though she’ll have to gear up for some family drama, since her mother, who’s had a frosty relationship with Barb at the best of times, will be there too.
Little does she suspect what she will discover. Along with the shocking revelation of Aunt Barbara’s diagnosis with breast cancer and impending surgery, there is the matter of Barbara’s close friend and housekeeper, show more Iris, an undocumented immigrant, who is found dead in her car later that evening of an apparent heart attack.
Judy, with her nose for investigation, suspects foul play. When things take a dark and violent turn as she digs deeper, it looks less and less like a heart attack was the cause of death. Most of the area’s immigrant workers are in the county illegally: the police know it and are looking the other way . . . perhaps, Judy suspects, because they are paid too. When Judy unearths a connection between Iris’s best friend going missing and more questionable financial dealings at the business where she worked, she is lucky to get out alive.
Determined not to let the grass grow under her feet and fall back into the mundane happenings once she’s able to return to her practice, Judy makes some life decisions that have repercussions for everyone at Rosato & Associates, thus setting up an interesting start for the next novel in this exhilarating series.
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Judy Carrier is mad at her happy-go-lucky, but self-centered boyfriend Frank and her boss, Bennie Rosato for asking her to work settlements for 75 asbestos cases for the corporation. But all of this takes a back seat to her aunt's breast cancer and pending mastectomy. When the aunt's closest friend, an illegal Mexican immigrant, dies shortly after meeting Judy and her mother, the aunt and Judy start asking questions. Judy quickly gets in over her head, and is attacked as others, including the local parish priest are killed. I like Scottoline's characters and there were significant reveals in this book, but Judy's sleuthing skills were a stretch, at least for me. 3.5 stars.
Read it in two days so I definitely bought into the action plot...but the main character was weak. Not a lindsey boxer or kay scarpetta...closer to Stephanie Plum but she can be that way because the author/writing is hysterical.

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Author Information

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80+ Works 33,464 Members
Lisa Scottoline was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1955. She received a B.A. in English with a concentration in the contemporary American novel from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976 and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1981. Before becoming an author, she worked as a trial lawyer. Her first show more novel, Everywhere That Mary Went, was published in 1994. Her other books include Come Home, Keep Quiet, Every Fifteen Minutes, and Most Wanted. She also writes the Rosato and Associates series and the Rosato and Dinunzio Novel series. Lisa's title, Daddy's Girl, is a April 2016 New York Times bestseller. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Betrayed
Original title
Betrayed
Original publication date
2015-09-18
People/Characters
Mary DiNunzio; Judy Carrier; Barb Moyer; Delia Carrier; Bennie Rosato; Frank (show all 12); Iris Juarez; Danielle Gamboa; Fr. Keegan; Fr. Oscar Vega; Domingo; Roberto
Important places
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. USA
Original language
English US

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Mystery
DDC/MDS
813.54LiteratureAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English1900-19991945-1999
LCC
PS3569.C725 B48Language and LiteratureAmerican literatureAmerican literatureIndividual authors1961-
BISAC

Statistics

Members
629
Popularity
40,455
Reviews
20
Rating
½ (3.48)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
21
ASINs
6