"Superb amateur sleuth"

She is worth millions, but Cally Wilde is also lonely fearing that people only want her for her money that she inherited from her father. Cally's mother hates her daughter because she thinks some of the money should have gone to her. Her half brother Binford intensely dislikes her because he too believes that some of the loot should belong to him. Only his wife Elena treats Cally as a friend.

Following a business lunch, two men try to murder Cally but she kills one of them while the other retreats. Detective Evan Paley, the lead on the case, and Cally immediately are attracted to one another, but he refuses to make love to her until the case is closed. Another murder occurs this time in Cally's home making it looks like someone wants her to take the fall. A half-sister Cally never heard of comes forward to make a claim on the estate and Elena takes an overdose of sleeping pills. Cally's life seems out of control even as she suspects every member of her family as the culprit(s).

Being a reviewer is similar to a prospector panning for gold; every once in a while one sifts to find a gold nugget LOADED in the sediment. This amateur sleuth novel is crackling with repressed sexual desire, so much so that one should use potholders while reading this book. There are so many suspects with viable motives that readers will go crazy trying to figure out who the perpetrator is. The good news is that this is the opening installment in what has the makings of a great series.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 25, 2003