In Sweetheart Deal, upscale lawyer Lilly Cleary returns to her hometown in Georgia upon receiving the news that her mother has killed someone. She drops everything in Florida, her current residence, to run to the aid of her family’s desperate circumstance.
This novel is full of surprise, sarcasm, and suspense. Claire Matturro's are comical, with their southern drawl and country ways. It seems after the completion of almost every task assigned, it becomes reason enough for them to drink a coke. They drink so much coke throughout this story that their blood type should be caffeine. Not to mention their cholesterol level: if the characters are eating a meal you better believe it includes greasy fried chicken. With pound cake as their snack of choice it’s a wonder they had all their teeth.
On a more serious note, how do you run to your mother’s rescue after going years without any contact? Shouldn’t some kind of maternal instincts kick in at some point? I can’t imagine going years without not so much as a single word to my own children, but then again your children have the potential of causing you the most pain. In Lilly’s case, she did right by her mother, she did what most daughters would have done – went to see about her well-being. Lilly has an unconditional love for her mom in spite of the faults that she and her mother possess.
Matturro takes her time with developing the plot. She keeps the reader anticipating up until the twisted, unpredictable climax. It takes skill to wrap up humor and mystery into a single book and make it work. The author has a unique and fresh style of writing that is launching her career. Sweetheart Deal is Matturro’s fourth book and I don’t doubt that there is more to come.
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