''Courting Trouble'' is a legal thriller

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

written by American author

Lisa Scottoline Lisa Scottoline (; born July 1, 1955) is an American author of legal thrillers. Life Born in the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood of Philadelphia, Scottoline attended Lower Merion High School and then went on to earn a B.A. in English magna cum ...

. The seventh entry in the Rosato & Associates series, it follows Anne Murphy, an attorney at the Rosato & Associates law firm, who spends

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

at the beach while her house is looked after by an acquaintance who physically resembles her. However, she learns through the morning paper that the acquaintance has been murdered and that the police have misidentified the body as Murphy. She chooses to remain legally dead as she reveals to her colleagues that she is alive and asks for their help in investigating the murder as she prepares for an upcoming high-profile court case. The novel debuted at #8 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list and remained on the list for three weeks.

Reception

Ann Hellmuth of ''

The State A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

'' called the novel a "good-hearted Fourth of July romp with enough fireworks to entertain even the most jaded palate."

Eugen Weber Eugen Joseph Weber (April 24, 1925 – May 17, 2007) was a Romanian-born American historian with a special focus on Western civilization. Weber became a historian because of his interest in politics, an interest dating back to at least the ag ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called the it a "fast-moving and suspenseful thriller, cheerful, charming, ditsy, a bit contrived, frequently funny and a good read." Oline H. Cogdill of the '' Daily Press'' opined that while Scottoline's "intuitive knack for creating three-dimentional characters who challenge the norm still shines", the novel is "undrecut by too much humour, too much zaniness that override the plot." Ed Grabianowski of ''

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'' called it "irritating and pointless" with a thrill that "makes no sense". However, he opined that when the humour is not "ghoulish and inappropriate", it is "light and mildly clever."

Reference

{{Reflist 2002 American novels Legal thriller novels