Killer Smile
by Lisa Scottoline
Pan $105
Lisa Scottoline's humour distinguishes her from other authors of legal thrillers. Killer Smile is no different, despite its grave subject matter and the book having been inspired by events that blighted the lives of her Italian-American grandparents. Scottoline's 11th novel sees the return of protagonist Mary DiNunzio, who works in the all-woman Philadelphia law firm Rosata and Associates. DiNunzio is working pro bono on a case involving an Italian immigrant fisherman, who apparently committed suicide while interned as an 'enemy alien' during the second world war. The more she sifts through archives for clues about the man, for whose estate she is seeking compensation, the more convinced she is that he did not take his own life. DiNunzio's suspicions are heightened when it becomes clear her investigation has made her a target for someone. A page-turner, Killer Smile is also a keeper because it reminds us of the plight of thousands of Italians who, like the Japanese and Germans in America, fell victim to the paranoid edicts of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
