BOOK REVIEW: A GOOD KILLING BY ALLISON LEOTTA

Title: A Good Killing

Author: Allison Leotta

Genre: Mystery, thriller

Published on: May 12, 2015 by Gallery Books

Former federal prosecutor and critically acclaimed author Allison Leotta’s spellbinding thriller follows prosecutor Anna Curtis as she heads home to Michigan to defend her sister in a case that will bring her to her knees.

How far would you go to save your sister?

Anna Curtis is back in her hometown just outside of Detroit. Newly single after calling off her wedding, Anna isn’t home to lick her wounds. She’s returned to support her sister, Jody, who has been wrongfully accused of murder after their old high school coach, a local hero, dies in a suspicious car crash.

But maybe Jody isn’t so innocent after all. The police are convinced that Jody was having an affair with the married coach and killed him out of jealousy. As Anna investigates with the help of her childhood friend Cooper Bolden, an Afghan War veteran with a secret of his own, she slowly peels back the facade of her all-American town and discovers that no one is telling the truth about the coach, not even the people she thought she knew best. When the town rallies against them, threatening not just Jody’s liberty but both sisters’ lives, Anna resolves to do everything she can to save her sister and defend the only family she has left.

In her best book yet, Leotta, “the female John Grisham” (The Providence Journal), explores the limits of vigilante justice, the bonds of sisterhood, and the price of the truth.

Everything has changed in the fourth book of the Anna Curtis series. She's the main protagonist, an Assistant U.S. Attorney from D.C. Speak of the Devil had a shocking development that completely altered Anna's life. It left me rather bummed. For almost three books, the series had been building a romance between Anna and Jack Bailey. The latter is the head of the Homicide Unit at the USAO. The two were an inch away from getting married. It turns out that Jack's deceased wife, Nina Flores, was alive after all. She faked her death to protect her family and bring down an extremely dangerous criminal. Nina still loves Jack, so with her back in the picture, Anna felt she couldn't go forward with the wedding.

A call from a high school friend gives Anna an excuse to get away from D.C. for a bit. She returns to Holly Grove, her hometown. Anna has no idea what awaits her, though. She soon learns that Jody, her younger sister, is in trouble. Jody has played a small role in the two books she's appeared in so far. Now, Jody shares protagonist status with Anna. Things start with a local tragedy. Owen Fowler, a beloved high school coach and pillar of the community, is found dead. He was inside his car when it crashed into the school gym. The police find the circumstances suspicious. Knowing of Jody's relationship with the coach, they want to bring her in for questioning.

BOOK REVIEW: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL BY ALLISON LEOTTA

Title: Speak of the Devil

Author: Allison Leotta

Genre: Mystery, thriller

Published on: August 6, 2013 by Gallery Books

In this gripping legal thriller by “the female John Grisham” (The Providence Journal), sex-crimes prosecutor Anna Curtis must stop a vicious street gang before it destroys more lives—and her own family.

On the very night she gets engaged to the man she loves, Assistant US Attorney Anna Curtis’s professional life takes a shocking turn that threatens everything she holds dear. A few miles away from where she’s enjoying her romantic dinner, two separate groups are gearing up to raid a brothel. A vicious killer known as Diablo—the Devil—leads one group. A few minutes later, Anna’s own investigative team heads in to search the brothel, as part of an ongoing fight against human trafficking in DC. Both groups are caught off guard, with deadly results.

As Anna investigates the bloody face-off, the boundaries between her work and home life begin to blur when she discovers a web of long-buried secrets and official lies that lead straight to her doorstep. And everything Anna counted on—the happiness she seemed so close to securing—comes into question as Diablo moves in for yet another kill.

Allison Leotta draws on her experience as a DC sex-crimes prosecutor to take you into the back rooms of the US Attorney’s Office, the hidden world of the Witness Protection Program, and the secret rituals of one of America’s most dangerous gangs. Universally praised by bestselling authors from Catherine Coulter and George Pelecanos to Lisa Scottoline and David Baldacci, Leotta weaves fact and fiction to create her best novel yet.

 

This is the third entry in a mystery/legal thriller series centering on protagonist Anna Curtis. She's an Assistant U.S. Attorney in DC. Anna has handled a couple of major cases so far. In Speak of the Devil, she'll work on her most dangerous one yet. The story picks up with Anna on a date with Jack Bailey, her fiance. He's the head of the Homicide Unit at the USAO (Anna's in Sex Crimes). Anna and Jack have had a somewhat rocky relationship so far. At least the interracial aspect of it hasn't been a big obstacle. It now seems as if Anna and Jack may soon get their happily ever after.

Several miles away, a group of MPD officers conducts a raid at a brothel. What was supposed to be a routine crackdown turns into a deadly confrontation. A couple of gang members manage to escape, but the cops are able to capture a third one. The guy's nickname turns out to be Psycho. Fitting for a dude involved with the MS, one of the most violent gangs in America. Psycho is found carrying something that causes MPD to bring Anna and Jack into the case. The former learns about it first, as she prepared a document enabling the police to conduct the raid. Detective Tavon McGee (a friend of Anna's and Jack's) is the one who brings the evidence.

BOOK REVIEW: DISCRETION BY ALLISON LEOTTA

Title: Discretion

Author: Allison Leotta

Genre: Mystery, thriller

Published on: July 3, 2012 by Gallery Books

For fans of Lisa Scottoline and Law and Order: SVU, former federal sex-crimes prosecutor Allison Leotta’s novel explores the intersection of sex and power as Anna Curtis investigates the murder of one of DC’s highest-paid escorts.

When a beautiful young woman plummets to her death from the balcony of the U.S. Capitol, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Curtis is summoned to the scene. The evidence points to a sexual assault and murder. The victim is one of the city’s highest-paid escorts. And the balcony belongs to Washington, D.C.’s sole representative to Congress, the most powerful figure in city politics.

The Congressman proclaims his innocence, but he’s in the middle of a tough primary fight, and the scandal could cost him the election. For Anna, the high-profile case is an opportunity. But as the political stakes rise, she realizes that a single mistake could end her career.

At the same time, her budding romance with Jack Bailey, the chief homicide prosecutor, is at a crossroads. Determined to gain respect in the office, Anna wants to keep their relationship under wraps. But the mounting pressure and media attention that come with the office’s most important case will inevitably expose their relationship—if it doesn’t destroy it first.

The investigation leads Anna to Discretion, a high-end escort service that caters to D.C.’s elite. But with each break in the case, the mystery deepens. And the further Anna ventures into D.C.’s red-light underworld, the larger the target on her own back.

From the secret social clubs where Washington’s most powerful men escape from public view to the asphalt “track” where the city’s most vulnerable women work the streets, Discretion is a gripping exploration of sex, power, and the secrets we all keep.

 

There are novels that meet your expectations, and others that exceed them. For me, Discretion was the latter. This is the second entry in a legal thriller series. The protagonist is Anna Curtis, an Assistant U.S. Attorney from D.C. She’s still within her first three years in the job. Anna has already handled a big case in Law of Attraction. It came with an almost-scandal that nearly derailed her career. Luckily, her position is secure after solving the case. Anna’s now been transferred to a better office, and it’s all hers. She used to share her old one with a fellow attorney/friend.

Anna’s next case begins in dramatic fashion. A beautiful woman fell to her death from a balcony at the U.S. Capitol. One of the building's security officers witnessed this tragedy. Anna’s boss, Carla, compels her to get to the Capitol as soon as possible. She’s hoping to snatch the investigation from Jack Bailey, the head of the USAO’s Homicide section. Carla leads the other section, Sex Crimes. Anna and Jack end up arriving at the scene at the same time. They act friendly while in public, as the two have been in a relationship since the end of Law of Attraction.

BOOK REVIEW: LAW OF ATTRACTION BY ALLISON LEOTTA

Title: Law of Attraction

Author: Allison Leotta

Genre: Thriller, mystery

Published on: October 12, 2010

As a newly minted Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., Anna Curtis has already developed thick skin to deal with the brutality she encounters with her daily stack of domestic violence cases. Yet when Laprea Johnson walks into Anna’s life—battered by her boyfriend on the morning after Valentine’s Day—there’s something about this particular case that Anna can’t quite shake, something that reminds the prosecutor of her own troubled past.

At the trial, Laprea makes a last-minute reversal, lying on the witness stand to free her boy-friend. Shortly after he is freed, Anna is horrified to hear that Laprea’s body has been found in a trash heap. Hastily assigned to prosecute the murder case alongside intimidating chief homicide prosecutor Jack Bailey, Anna’s heart sinks when she learns that her own boyfriend, public defender Nick Wagner, is representing the accused.

Torn between bringing the killer to justice and saving her personal life, Anna makes a series of choices that jeopardizes her career, her relationships, and her very life as she uncovers the shocking truth behind the murder.

Weaving expert knowledge with deft storytelling, federal sex-crimes prosecutor and Harvard Law School graduate Allison Leotta takes readers on a thrilling ride through D.C.’s criminal justice system. From the back rooms of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the flirtations and machinations of Washington’s Ivy League lawyers to the struggles of its poorest citizens on the gritty streets of Anacostia, Law of Attraction is a gripping debut from an exciting new talent.

 

As a big fan of procedural/mystery novels, Law of Attraction caught my eye while browsing the Kindle Store. This is the first entry in a series focusing on Anna Curtis. She's a relatively new Assistant U.S. Attorney working in D.C. As a prosecutor, Anna mostly handles domestic violence cases. She's a big believer in justice, but wouldn't color outside the lines to get the outcome she wants. The other main characters in Law of Attraction are Nicholas "Nick" Wagner and Jack Bailey. Nick is a public defender who went to law school with Anna. Jack is the chief Homicide prosecutor where Anna works.

Anna's latest case involves D'Marco Davis, a man who keeps beating up his girlfriend, Laprea Johnson. Despite that, he claims to absolutely love her. After the latest beating results in a lawsuit, Anna resolves to put a stop to this cycle of violence. To her surprise, Nick is representing D'Marco in the trial. The latter has been Nick's client for years. Anna can't believe how Nick could defend a man as wicked as she believes D'Marco to be. Nick counters that everyone deserves a defense attorney.