After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

There was life before Anna, and there was life after Anna. There was a happy marriage, then there was distrust and heartbreak. And it all fell apart, after Anna.

Lisa Scottoline's After Anna is a riveting story of the destruction of a marriage, innocent imprisonment, and a mother's deep love.

Noah and Maggie have created a happy life together, both having overcome past tragedy. Maggie's postpartum mental state led to her being institutionalized, her husband divorcing her, taking sole custody of their infant daughter. Noah lost his wife and raised his son alone until falling for Maggie. They are truly happy together.

Maggie is ecstatic when her daughter Anna, now seventeen, contacts her. With the death of her father and step-mother, Anna wants Maggie in her life and asks to be taken in. Noah is supportive. They will be a happy blended family.

Maggie is desperate to make up for failing Anna as an infant, and Anna uses that guilt to manipulate her. Noah insists that Anna follow house rules and parental guidance. Anna is not pleased.

Everything goes wrong. Anna accuses Noah of sexual advances and takes out a restraining order. And when Anna turns up dead, Noah is the prime suspect and is convicted of her murder. Maggie is devastated and preparing to sue for divorce when she is contacted by Anna's school therapist and everything Maggie thought she knew is turned upside down.

The novel is told in two time lines, Noah and Maggie before Anna's arrival and leading up to her death, and Noah on trial and in prison 'after Anna.'

It is an entertaining read that I didn't want to put down. As usual, Scottoline delivers a novel with suspense, human interest, and a twist of contemporary social concerns, with lots of courtroom and legal scenes.

I received a free e-book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

After Anna
by Lisa Scottoline
St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 9781250099655
PRICE: $27.99

Exposed by Lisa Scottoline

Mary DiNunzio comes from an Italian South Philly family and her loyalty to her neighbors is fierce. When the son of one of her dad's best friends comes to her needing representation, she had to accept the case, even if a conflict of interest means she has to give up her new partnership with Bennie Rosato in a top law firm.

As Bennie and Mary try to hash out the legal aspects of representing businesses owned by the same parent company, Mary's client Simon is not only fighting being wrongfully fired from his job, his daughter is in the Children's Hospital battling leukemia.

Simon does not know that he has inadvertently revealed a fatal design flaw in his company's product, and there are people willing to do anything to protect themselves.

I always love a DiNunzio book; she is a character with heart and a dedication to those she loves. In Exposed she makes hard choices, she and Bennie suffer horribly, but the book ends with joyful news.

Scottoline always has a nice quick read to offer, and this legal thriller does not disappoint. The last half kept me turning pages. And besides, I love that Simon graduated from Temple University-my alma mater!

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Exposed
Lisa Scottline
St Martin's Press
Publication August 15, 2017
$27 hard cover
ISBN: 9781250099716