Dirty Blonde (Hardcover)

We open with a scene of celebration. Attractive thirty-something Cate Fante has just been appointed a Federal Judge. Clad in a Chanel suit "donned like overpriced armor," she accepts accolades from her peers at Philadelphia's Four Seasons. Coming from a very modest background, a small ming town, she seems to be on top of the world - until we read the last page of the Prologue.

Hailing a cab she starts home only to spy a dingy looking tavern. She tells the driver to let her out there. Once perched on a bar stool sipping a glass of Miller, she wonders how long it will take - not long at all. Soon there is someone beside her with his hand on her knee. ".....he had bloodshot blue eyes, heavy stubble, and hair that shone in greasy strands." Nonetheless, Cate moves that hand onto her thigh and tells him her name is Karen.

Obviously, our heroine has a really serious problem, one that she cannot keep hidden for long after a famous TV producer, Art Simone, is brought before her. Prosecutor Richard Marz accuses him of stealing his idea for what has become a popular television show. Cate rules in favor of Simone who is soon murdered. Naturally, Marz becomes the prime suspect until he, too, is found dead.

Enter the prosecutor's partner, a reprehensible police officer who digs deeply enough into Cate's life to discover her seamy secrets. Once they become headline news everything important to her is in jeopardy, as well as her life.

Scottoline is a master of fast paced dialogue and plot twists that keep the pages turning.

- Gail Cooke

Powerful men have often found themselves drawn to casual sexual affairs. As long as these affairs are kept secret, the men operate with impunity. When the cat's out of the bag, look out!

How much more likely is that to be the case when an attractive woman does something similar . . . picking up men for sexual entertainment? That's the theme of Dirty Blonde.

Like our former president, everything is revealed in public. Ms. Scottoline exaggerates the reaction to make her point about the double standard that women face, and the story works up to a frenzied climax as Judge Cate Fante seems to have lost most of what she cares about. Up to that point, I was riveted and couldn't stop reading.

Then the book works up to a resolution that I didn't find credible, interesting or in keeping with her theme. The message seems to be that you can be as careless as you want in life and everything will be okay.

Dirty Blonde is, however, a thoughtful look into the special challenges of being a single woman judge at a high level in the judiciary. I thought that Ms. Sottoline got that part extremely right.

Another strength of the book is a powerful sequence located in Centralia, Pennsylvania.

In the advance reader's edition, I was amused to see that Terrell Owens, the talented but controversial former Philadelphia Eagles receiver, was referred to as Tyrell Davis, the actor. I hope that this was corrected in the edited version of the book. It does make me wonder how closely Ms. Scottoline is in touch with Philly these days.