Courting Trouble
Anne Murphy thought she'd put her unhappy past a continent behind her  when she joined Philadelphia attorney Bennie Rosato's all-woman law firm. Then a  friend who's housesitting for Anne is murdered in what's clearly a case of  mistaken identity, and Anne realizes that the past has caught up with her and  that the only way to outrun it is to catch the killer before he realizes that  she's still alive. But how can Anne play dead with a high-profile case just days  away from starting? The only way to pull it off is to let her new colleagues in  on the secret, which would mean telling them her other secrets, too, including  the fact that she's in love with opposing counsel and the probability that her  client may not be as innocent as she thought he was. The author deftly weaves  the threads of plot and subplot together, helped by Mary DiNunzio, Judy Carrier,  and Bennie herself, the familiar and well-drawn mainstays of this lively and  solidly paced series (Moment of  Truth,The Vendetta  Defense,Rough  Justice). It's vintage Scottoline, featuring some nice touches; a little  suspense, a lot of female bonding, a few pithy asides on the human condition,  and a surprise in the penultimate chapter.--Jane Adams