Thriller

Lisa Scottoline knows how to tell a character driven mystery. Unfortunately the reunion of a mother and daughter separated due to severe postpartum depression combined with a problematic step-father and a large inheritance are way too familiar to fully engage us. I was shocked that I figured out the twist before the characters did. I can almost forgive Lisa as she brings the novel to a pulsating ending. The writing is always spot on detail oriented and that covers a multitude of sins. Not one of her best but I have no regrets having devoured it. ( )

Perhaps my favourite of Scottoline's yet, this had a pacy ending and I enjoyed how this wasn't completely solvable from the beginning.

I seem to keep picking up Scottoline books and feeling really excited and then starting them and remembering "Oh, you're that author." She's solid. She's very solid. I'm never completely blown away. This was a classic case.

The first half of this was slow. Perhaps it was because I was reading this cocnurrently with a different, more engrossing book, but it didn't have a lot of suspense and didn't feel particularly solvable, or like it was going anywhere.

The second half was super pacy and I read quickly to figure out how it would play out. But the second half also was pretty unbelievable. I know, I know, books would be boring if they were always about believable things, but not enough clues had been placed to set up the plethora of events that happened.

I'm knocking a star off though mainly because I felt quite uncomfortable with a large segment of how prison was depicted in this--it was just really, very random, and completely unnecessary for the story as a whole.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

WOW. this is the first book I've read by Lisa and I have to say it was a great read. I couldn't stop reading till I finished the book. What a bizarre twist of events. Never did i suspect it was an Ann look alike. Great writing to keep us guessing and wanting to read in one sitting. I sure hope the next book I read by Lisa is as good as this one. ( )

AFTER ANNA was my first Lisa Scottoline book, and I was drawn in by the blurb—a doctor who has recently married for the second time is accused of molesting and murdering his new stepdaughter. He swears he is innocent. Who is lying—the stepdaughter who just arrived in the household weeks before her death, or Noah, her stepfather? This had lots of interesting dynamics—a blended family, with both parents bringing one bio child into the new blended household. A new marriage, which was on solid ground before Anna, Maggie’s daughter who she hasn’t seen since she was an infant arrives. And then there is the complication of Maggie’s past—she suffered from post-partum psychosis when Anna was a baby and lost custody of her to her father. She hasn’t seen Anna in years. After Anna’s father dies, she comes to live Maggie and Noah… but things quickly go bad.

This book was told in dual timelines—before Anna’s death and after—which were mostly scenes during Noah’s trial. I found the general premise behind the story to be clever, and also the twists towards the end were very well done. The trial was well written and nerve wracking. I found some of the scenes between Anna and Maggie felt longer than needed… there would be a long scene about picking out mattresses or a TV show or what have you and we would get one useful kernel of information at the very end. Once we got to the twist at the end, I was very interested and excited to see how things unfolded. I was a little disappointed with how much time the book spent slowly developing early on and giving what felt like unneeded detail that the ending felt so rushed. I would have liked to see more once we finally knew what really happened. ( )