He Who Sings Last Book Review by Lisa Laird DiRosso & Giveaway!

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Author: Lisa Laird DiRosso
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Date: July 28, 2009
Pages: 316
Genre: Suspense, crime

I was given the opportunity to read Lisa Laird DiRosso’s debut novel He Who Sings Last. I was eager to read this book as I prefer crime and mystery novels given my background and experience in law. The main character, Jimmy Covelli, is an aging, down on his luck former singer of a popular band from the 80’s. There are many characters that come in and out of the story and the author does a great job in providing a good history on the characters, personalities and the relationships as it relates to the story and each other. One of the main characters, Miranda Madison, a fan of Jimmy’s from the past, provides some reader’s the ability to reminiscent about their teen idols as well as the realization how far some people will go to have love.

Understanding Jimmy’s decline and struggles with aging was easy to relate to as I suspect anyone could feel the pain of losing their youth especially someone who could get any woman in his day. Jimmy’s character is further revealed to have some skeletons in the closet with unexpected twists. Another main character, a police detective named John Vintoni, leads the path to uncover the truth behind a murder that was committed and unsolved in 1983. The author provides a good insight into the minds of Jimmy and Detective Vintoni and how they work against one another. Detective Vintoni is committed and nearly obsessed with solving this crime to the point where you aren’t sure you should feel sorry for him or revel in his need to find justice.

The story centers around Jimmy and his manipulative ways and Detective Vintoni’s pursuit to bring justice to the person who committed the murder 19 year’s ago. I found that there was almost too many details on all the characters but I understood the author’s point with trying to weave them altogether. I tried to anticipate the outcome as I kept reading and particularly enjoyed the very accurate court room dialogue. Given my experience with court rooms, the author was very accurate which made it more enjoyable.

Throughout the latter half of the book, I kept anticipating the who done it answer and was left with an interesting ending! I would recommend this book and if you like Sherlock Holmes type stories, this one has the mystery and the criminal components that keeps you reading to the end.

From Amazon's Product Description:

Just how far will one fan go to prove her loyalty? In her novel He Who Sings Last, Lisa Laird DiRosso expertly knits a blanket of obsession laced with suspicion and murder in a suspenseful crime novel centered on has-been celebrity Jimmy Covelli. He leads a quiet, post-fame existence until some ghosts from his past come back to haunt him after nineteen years, when an unsolved murder case is reopened by a zealous New York detective. Covelli charms and harms wherever he goes, and in his destructive path, he leaves behind a host of resentful family members and brokenhearted fans. Will the detective catch him and be able to prove his guilt? Find out in He Who Sings Last.

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Giveaway ends September 30, 2009.