Lisa Scottoline's latest thriller, Killer Smile, again features the attorneys of the all-female law firm of Rosato and Associates, and likewise delves into the familiar mix of legal shenanigans found in all legal thrillers: corruption, fraud, bribery, stalking, and, yes, even murder. Scottoline (a former trial lawyer, New York Times bestselling author, and Edgar Award winner for crime fiction) truly brings to life Mary DiNuzio, a young woman who grew up in south Philly and hasn't ever really left (as a note of trivia, Mary was the star of Scottoline's first legal thriller, Everywhere that Mary Went, and not much seems to have changed about her in the ensuing years). Mary spends lots of time with her parents, has never been on a plane (or far from Philly), and appears to have as her biggest problem the constant efforts of friends and family to fix her up with another blind date. It's been two years since her husband died, and everybody (besides Mary, that is) thinks she should be moving on.
Some might say Mary has an "old soul." She likes old music (Sinatra, etc), likes old people, and loves history. She also prays to saints when she can't find things and has a deep, dark secret: on some level, she believes in ghosts. It is therefore no real surprise that Mary finds herself deeply embroiled in her latest case, a pro bono job arising from her family connections in the Italian-American community of South Philly. She represents the estate of Amadeo Brandolini (actually, one could say the estate of Amadeo Brandolini's son Tony, since it was upon his death that his will authorized and directed the lawsuit) and is investigating the possibility of a reparations action against the U.S. government.
Amadeo was an immigrant who moved from Italy to Philadelphia, where he started a family and worked as a fisherman. He spoke little English and had the misfortune to live on the East Coast just as World War II got underway. Like many Japanese and German immigrants, a large number of Italian immigrants were rounded up and sent to internment camps during the war. Amadeo was arrested, along with 10,000 other Italian-Americans, and sent to a camp in Montana. It was there that he learned of his wife's death and that he himself had lost everything. He committed suicide in the camp, and his son Tony wanted to see if there was some way to obtain "redress" for his injuries from the government.
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