Book Talk: ‘Damaged,’ ‘Exposed,’ ‘Feared’

I’m reviewing the final three novels in Lisa Scottoline’s Rosato and DiNunzio series because they share many characteristics. I previously reviewed “Accused,” “Betrayed,” and “Corrupted.”

Damaged (2016, 402 pages in hardback format)

“Damaged” is the fourth novel in the series. In this edition, Edward O’Brien asks Mary DiNunzio to defend his 10-year-old grandson, Patrick, who is named in a lawsuit filed by Steve Robertson, a teacher’s aide at Patrick’s school. Robertson alleges that Patrick attacked him with a scissors.

Robertson is represented by Nick Machiavelli, a man whose surname suits him to a T, and who appears in a subsequent novel. When Edward is murdered, Mary petitions the court to become Patrick’s guardian, but Machiavelli opposes the plan. Also, Mary is engaged to marry Anthony Rotunno, and she hasn’t spoken to him about her desire to become a “mother.”