When Anthony Lucia, an 80-year-old Italian known as Pigeon Tony, makes good on his ancient vendetta against the Coluzzi Family, he has no idea whose life it will impact. Judy Carrier, an up-and-coming defense lawyer, receives a call from her friend and colleague about taking Pigeon Tony's case. Judy blindly jumps at the chance to help out a dear friend and the sheer excitement of a murder case, not knowing that her life is about to change dramatically.

To Judy's dismay, Pigeon Tony openly admits he killed Angelo Coluzzi, but refuses to call it murder. Judy is forced to become creative with her defense to get the witnesses to talk. By using extreme measures, she opens herself up to the threat on not only Pigeon Tony's life but also that of her own. She enlists the help of loyal neighborhood friends, who all go by the name of Tony, and the very attractive grandson, Frank. They unravel a string of events dating back 63 years to pre-WWII that stem from hate, love, jealousy and even the fascist politics of 1930s Italy to current crimes and secrets of South Philly, the original Little Italy.

Scottoline does a fabulous job of introducing the reader to the characters in this fast moving and exciting novel. I giggled at the quick-witted humor and cried at the losses Pigeon Tony experienced in his lifetime. Readers will enjoy traveling back to 1930s Italy and venturing through Italian family ideals, such as an eye for an eye, while falling in love with each character.

Book Summary

The heart of the tale is a simple idea with complex implications: Anthony Lucia, an old Italian pigeon keeper known to his South Philly neighbors as "Pigeon Tony," doesn't try to hide the fact that he killed lifelong enemy Angelo Coluzzi, nor is he sorry that he's dead. He justifies the killing because he was merely carrying out a vendetta begun more than 50 years ago in Italy, a blood feud that brought great tragedy to Pigeon Tony's life.

But is murder ever justified? That is what ace lawyer, Judy Carrier, an associate of the Philly law firm Rosato & Associates, must decide for herself, before she can launch a defense in what becomes the most challenging case of her career. Challenging, not only because of its legal complexities, but because she must outsmart and outrun the victims sons, dangerous men who are determined to avenge their father's death, and finish off Pigeon Tony and Judy before the case goes to trial.