Lisa Scottoline is a very special author and I am a long time fan. I absolutely could not put down this book. Although similar plots have been used in other books, none nearly as twisty and interesting as this one.

What starts as a simple story of a reunion between a mother and her estranged child becomes a story of evil, murder and manipulation. Lots of elements including the trial of the man caught up in the middle of all this, Dr Noah Alderman, keep the reader spellbound. The plot opens during Noah’s murder trial and the author skillfully takes us back through his trial and the events which lead up to it

Though the reader guesses that all is not what it seems, we still anxiously move towards the elegant conclusion which weaves all the loose strands together. I thoroughly enjoyed this! Always looking forward to the next Lisa Scottoline book!

Another blockbuster from the author. I find her stand alone books much better than her series and this book was no exception. The story unfolded in a basic predictable fashion. But....I knew this author would not settle for basic. The intrigue developed toward the end which left me with a few surprises. The only criticism I had of the book was that the ending was too 'cute'.

The story alternates between Maggie's (the mother) experience before Anna's death, and the days from the end of the trial that convicted Noah (the husband) of Anna's death. And the "after trial" sections of the story start at the end of the trial and work their way forward to the beginning of the trial. My initial reactions was that the story was going to be very confusing to read in this manner but it actually worked and helped the reader unravel new details. However, the middle half of the book seemed to drag on forever, and it was at this point that I truly felt that this wasn't the typical Scottoline book that I usually love. I also felt like a few of the conversations/dialogues in the book felt forced or just elementary with random simple statements inserted in the conversation but they felt out of place.

At exactly the 75% mark of the book, the twists started coming and it got a little more intense. The pace picked up, and very quickly the book and story line was resolved. I liked the book, but the overall flow didn't seem typical for this author.

There are a lot of twists and turns. The writing style was not one I was comfortable with. The book dragged a bit for me until the end. There’s a lot of action taking place at the end of the book. The ending was quite good. Received an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley.

Noah Alderman has a thriving medical practice, is married to the lovely, Maggie Ippolitti, who has become a mother to his young son, Caleb. Living the suburban dream, all is close to perfect when Maggie receives a phone call from the daughter she hasn't seen since she was a baby. After Anna's birth, Maggie suffered from postpartum psychosis and her then-husband, highly successful Florian Desroches, took advantage of Maggie's illness to obtain physical custody of Anna. Maggie is overjoyed to hear from Anna that she is unhappy at her boarding school and is willing to come and live with Noah and Maggie. Discovering that Anna is an heiress and not used to rules and being part of a family, is an adjustment for all of them especially Noah. In a very short time, their lives are turned upside down, Noah is accused of murder and Maggie doesn't know who to believe. Maggie and her best friend Kathy are determined to learn the truth about Anna and what happened to Anna's missing friends.
Scottoline never disappoints! I enjoy her fast-paced writing style and in this case having heard her speak at Barned and Noble, I can just imagine Lisa sitting down and breathlessly telling this story. Reading one of her books is like seeing a friend that you haven't seen in awhile and picking up where you left off and time stands still. Told in the alternating voices of Maggie and Noah, I didn't want to stop reading until I discovered what really happened.

A thrilling tale and a timely topic. Don't want to spoil the ending, but it could be taken right from today's headline. As a bonus it's a tale with many.turns.
Lisa Scottoline has done it again!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

2.5* rounded up.

Maggie lost her baby daughter Anna to her French ex-husband after she suffered postpartum psychosis. 17 years later, out of the blue, Anna contacts her and within days has moved in with Maggie, her husband Noah and Noah's son Caleb. The novel opens with Noah about to hear the verdict at his trial for Anna's murder and then chapters from his perspective move backwards in time through the days of testimony, revealing that there may be more than one side to Anna. Intertwined with these are chapters from Maggie's perspective moving forwards in time, beginning with Anna's first contact. This form of narrative was not confusing exactly, but did lead to a certain amount of repetition and meant that the whole novel was infused with a depressing sense of fatality and malevolence.

It was an easy read, although it dragged a little for the first 75% before everything exploded at the end. To be honest I thought it was a bit of a mess in places: there was a whole sub-plot going on in the prison, which was violent and distracting from the main narrative. The first 75% was a sort of psychological suspense mystery and then the final quarter more of an adventure or crusade, the resolution of which depended entirely on the main villain making a full and extremely detailed confession.

I found a whole variety of things difficult to swallow:

SPOILERS

Maggie decided to take Anna into her home without discussing logistics with her husband first and arranged it all in the space of a few hours.

She was able to remove her from school without signing any paperwork.

Maggie loved Noah very much, but accepted the word of her daughter (a total stranger to her) over his.

Noah loved Maggie very much, but, having disagreed about parenting styles, he is tempted to have an affair.

Anna lied about Noah because he was going to make her change the terms of her trust - except that he had no power to do so and she could have just refused.

Maggie was allowed to go along on the rescue the trafficked girls mission with the police and FBI.

At the end, everything is just perfect and Maggie and Noah are more in love than ever...???

Full review to be published online in mid April.

AFTER ANNA is a change of pace for Lisa Scottoline, well known for her lawyer drama series. Here, the author has dipped her toe into the arena of the 'Domestic Drama'; and has done quite a nice job of it. Maggie had her daughter taken away from her by her husband due to a diagnosis of postpartum psychosis. Seventeen years later, that daughter reaches out to her. The story is told through flashbacks to times both before and after Maggie's daughter, Anna, came into their lives. Anna is not at all what Maggie expects, and immediately begins causing problems in her life and marriage. It is not long before Anna is murdered, an event that finds Maggie's current husband Noah on trial for her murder.

AFTER ANNA is a nice twisty, turny domestic drama in the vein of Harlan Coben. Lisa Scottoline has made a well written and quite interesting turn into a new genre. AFTER ANNA is a standalone read.