Everywhere That Mary Went (original 1993; edition 2004)

Great characterization and depth. Story was a little thin. I had a hard time concentrating on the "mystery" because I cared more about the individuals. But all in all a fun read that went very quickly. I'm going to enjoy reading the rest of this series I believe. ( )

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I was going along with the whole story - despite the useless pop culture references from the early 1990s - right up until the killer is revealed. What an idiotic climax. I won't be reading the rest of the books in this series. ( )

The heroine and narrator of the book, Mary Di Nunzio, is an associate in a corporate law firm in Philadelphia and up for promotion to partner. She's foul-mouthed, ballsy wise-cracking and the voice is pretty light and humorous. It's not just first person but present tense and sounds a bit odd. Present tense often lends a sense of lyricism and immediacy but that's not really the tone set here.

The thing is, even though this was on a Suspense novel reading list and is billed as a legal thriller, I felt that what this was meant to be--and should have been--was chick lit. It might have worked well as chick lit. There's a certain wit and a breeziness to the voice. Mary is close to a family full of quirky characters such as a twin who is a novice in a cloistered Catholic order. At the firm there's her best friend Judy, her loyal gay male secretary Brent and a fellow associate who is trying to woo her. Mary's still grieving though for her husband who was killed in a seeming accident, but she's just beginning to consider picking up on her personal life. Despite that from the beginning Mary is dealing with harassing hangup calls and a stalker, for the first hundred pages or so there really is no sense of menace.

So when that part of the book does kick into gear, I felt as if I accidentally had picked up another book. And I don't feel it ever comes together well as either a suspense novel or legal thriller. In fact, I thought the resolution was laugh-out-loud funny in a bad way. This didn't leave me wanting to ever read more of Lisa Scottoline. ( )

Very good mystery! Little cliff hanger at the end!! Liked the characters and just overall really enjoyed the book! Can't wait to read/listen to the rest of her books!! ( )