Can you have this much fun writing a murder mystery? Is it even legal? Well, author Lisa Scottoline ought to know since she's a former trial lawyer with honors and her characters are three women who make up the Philadelphia law firm of Rosato & Associates. The Rosato in charge is Benedetta, aka, Bennie, who in most of the Scottoline opus is the central character. Apparently feeling the need to spread the attention around, in "Killer Smile" Scottoline takes Bennie out to Florida on a case, giving the main line of action to uncontrollable (but not out of control) Mary DiNunzio, a young, beautiful associate with a conviction so deep and so unconcerned with the bottom line that she puts her job on the line pursuing an injustice that occurred 60 years ago.

It wasn't the War Act internment of Italian Americans that's got our heroine sniffing deeply into history. The injustice DiNunzio is investigating (in league with fellow associate and tight buddy Judy Carrier) is a case of murder and a stolen invention that occurred at that Montana camp and which has remained covered up while accruing billions to the account of the shameless perpetrator.

In the Scottoline universe, lawyers become investigators the way catterpillars evolve into butterflies: naturally. This makes her work closely related to the police procedural. But the feature that separates her from all other mystery writers is a sense of humor that flows like liquid chocolate and almost, but not quite, sweetens the depravity, cunning and social injuries.

There is certainly a pervasive hint of feminism under the scented trails to crime, and a rich emphasis on Italian-American culture, but the total balance prevents anyone from becoming nervous about enjoying one of the most entertaining writers in the field. If you haven't yet discovered Lisa Scottoline you've just been delaying a wickedly diverting reading experience.