"Superb romantic suspense"

In Cypress, Florida, snuggled in the Everglades, Elva Lyons shuts her bar Southern Comfort to go home. Inside her home, someone she knows comes out of the closet and kills her. Apparently, Elva had bought a box of junk at a church sale that contained a journal describing a murder. The official report is an accident due to her falling while using her skiff.

Elva's granddaughter Kim fled Cypress ten years ago after accusing her stepfather, a favorite son of the town, of murdering her mother. When she learns her beloved granny is dead, she feels guilty for not going home often and hurt as she missed the funeral. Kim has inherited the bar and house of her granny and heads to Cypress knowing everyone hates her, but one person would like her removed anyway possible including the use of homicide.

Fans who have watched the career of Tina Wainscott soar over the years will enjoy her latest romantic suspense that never slows down until the climax. The story line is action packed and keep readers guessing as to who killed Elva though the villain seems a bit of a stretch once revealed. The cast is a delight that brings a small isolated Everglades community to life, alligators and all so that the audience receives the usual entertaining thriller from one of the best writers today at keeping the tension high.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 16, 2003

Summary

Kim was still a teenager when she fled the Florida Everglades--and most people in her hometown of Cypress were glad to see her go. For Kim committed the cardinal small- town sin. She accused a local son of an unspeakable murder-- and no one would ever let her forget it. A decade later, Kim returns to Cypress to take over her late grandmother's bar. She hopes enough time has passed for her to go back to the only place she's ever called home. But the hatred Kim left behind is still waiting for her--and now she's in more danger than ever before. It starts with a few dirty looks from the locals. Then a pick-up truck tries to run Kim off the road. The signs are all there. Someone wants Kim gone before more dirty secrets see the light of day. And if Kim doesn't go easy, a killer is going to make her wish she's never returned home...