Lisa Scottoline, ‘Come Home’

Lisa Scottoline’s books almost always make the top tier of my favorite books. But I suppose that there’s an exception to everything. “Come Home” (2012, 368 pages in soft cover) simply isn’t up to the vaulted Scottoline standard. The theme that runs through the novel is that a stepmother is always a mother, just as a mother is always a mother. It’s sentimentality taken to the upchuck level. I kept turning pages because I thought that the standard Scottoline would come through and save this plot, but that never happened.

The story revolves around Jill Farrow, a successful pediatrician who has experienced a divorce. She’s settled in with her new beau Sam, her daughter from an earlier marriage Megan, and her chubby golden retriever Beef. As they are all preparing for bed, she hears, Jill! Jill!

Jill runs to the front door, opens it, and sees Abby, her former stepdaughter from a second marriage. Abby is lying on the ground in the rain, and Jill runs to her. Abby is nearly hysterical, and says “I can’t say it… it’s so awful.” Jill urges her a bit, and Abby says, “Jill. Dad’s dead. He’s dead.”