The Vendetta Defense (52 page)

Authors: Lisa Scottoline

Thank you to Anthony and Rocco LaSalle and his family, who invited me into their home, loft, and friendship. I am forever grateful. Thank you to the members of a certain local pigeon racing club, for letting this rookie attend. For further reading about pideon racing, see Rotondo,
Rotondo on Racing Pigeons
(Mattacchione, 1987) and Bodio,
Aloft
(Pruett, 1990). Thank you to Wil Durham, for his expertise and kindness, and to Marty Keeley, Sebastian Pistritto, and Chris Molitor.

Thank you to Paul Davis, friend and master stonemason, for answering countless questions and for letting me watch him pick up rocks and put them down again. Fot the zen of dry-laid walls, see Allport,
Sermons in Stone
(Norton, 1990) and Vivian,
Building Stone Walls
(Storey, 1976). Thank you to Dr. Anthony Giangrasso, for his forensic expertise and kindness. Thank you to my dear friends criminal defense lawyer Glenn Gilman and detective/whiz Art Mee of the Office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia.

Most of all, thank you to my readers, who have been so supportive to me and my books over the years. I think of you every sentence, and am grateful for the time you spend to read me and even write to me. I am both honored and cheered by your very kind letters and e-mail.

Finally, a personal thank you to my husband and family, for their love and support, and to three goldens I know, for just being you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Scottoline writes bestselling legal thrillers that draw on her experience as a criminal lawyer at a prestigious Philadelphia law firm and also her clerkships in the state and federal systems of justice. She is an honors graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and its law school, where she was associate editor of the
Law Review
. Scottoline won the premier award in suspense fiction, the Edgar Award, for her second legal thriller,
Final Appeal
. Her books are used by bar associations for the issues of legal ethics they present, and she has lectured on the subject at law schools around the country. Scottoline’s books have been translated into more than twenty languages. A native Philadelphian, she lives with her family in the Philadelphia area and welcomes mail at www.scottoline.com.

CREDITS

Jacket photograph: Michael Malyosko

Jacket Design: Richard L. Aquan

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

AUSTRALIA

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Limited, 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321), Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au

CANADA

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900, Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercanada.com

NEW ZEALAND

HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited, P.O. Box 1, Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz

UNITED KINGDOM

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.fireandwater.co.uk