"Fine police procedural romance"

Not long after his brother Guy died, New Orleans restaurateur David Patin dies in a fire at his establishment Chez Charlotte. Besides grieving their loss, his wife and daughter Vivian are shocked to learn how in debt they are. They move to Guy's former estate Rosebank, which they inherited planning to convert the property into an exclusive resort.

Their lawyer Louis Martin drives out to give them some good news that Guy left with his inheritance. However, someone kills the attorney just before local Sheriff Spike Devol arrives for dinner. Bullying Detective Bonine leads the investigation in which he suspects the Patin women killed Louis since Vivian inadvertently destroyed the crime scene. As Bonine pressures the two women, Vivian and Spike fall in love, but first he must uncover the identity of a killer and resolves to discover what Guy left them to keep them solvent.

Fans of police procedural romances will enjoy this delightful thriller. The story line is loaded with action as the audience will appreciate the lead couple and their efforts to do the right thing. Except for the police detective the secondary cast adds depth to the plot. KISS THEM GOODBYE is a strong Bayou suspense tale, a novel that lives up to Stella Cameron's reputation as a great author.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 25, 2003

In Kiss Them Goodbye, Stella Cameron returns to Toussaint, Louisiana, where sinuous cypress trees reach across the bayou to shade opaque waters from the relentless sun . . .but the shadows hide a dark and deadly danger.

Summary

Father Cyrus is worried about Sheriff Spike Devol's too- hot-to-handle relationship with Vivian Patint—especially when murder seems to follow Vivian around.

Just weeks after inheriting Rosebank, a once-magnificent plantation on the banks of Bayou Teche, David Patin died in a mysterious fire that destroyed his popular New Orleans restaurant. In the aftermath, his daughter Vivian and wife Charlotte are shocked to discover that the family finances are as run-down as their only remaining asset—Rosebank.

With her degree in hotel management and her mother's restaurant expertise, Vivian Patin decides to restore the family fortunes by turning the lushly overgrown and decaying Rosebank into a resort hotel with all the sultry charm of old Louisiana. But Vivian's dream becomes a nightmare when she finds the family's lawyer dead on the sprawling grounds of the estate—with a rose on his chest and a brilliant lipstick mark on his cheek. Suddenly Vivian begins to wonder if someone is targeting Rosebank and the Patin family . . . and if her father's death was, in fact, an accident.

Dissatisfied with the local police investigation, Vivian approaches Spike Devol, deputy sheriff of a nearly town, who has a reputation for being smart, honest and tough. She asks him to help her find the truth. But the instant attraction between them leaves Spike reluctant to get involved--until he discovers that Vivian could be the next victim. When another shocking murder occurs at Rosebank, it's clear that the stakes have never been higher—and that now it's up to Spike and Vivian to catch a killer . . . before he kills again.