"Exhilarating romantic suspense"

Two years ago, Ellie Byron was standing on a balcony watching the Mardi Gras festivities when she saw the Stephanie Gray murder. The New Orleans Police arrested Charles Penn, but Ellie could not identify whether he was the killer as she insisted she followed the victim; the police believe that Ellie feared Charles would come after her so she refused to tell the truth. In spite of Ellie's inability to point to Charles as the killer, he is convicted of murder.

Ellie, owner of the Hungry Eyes Bookstore in Toussaint, Louisiana learns that Charles has escaped from incarceration and that another woman was killed using the same ice pick modus operendi used in the Gray case. Besides her belief that her life is in peril, but not necessarily from Charles, Ellie fears that her past will surface. Local lawyer Joe Gable tries to protect her because he wants to get close to her, but also wonders why Ellie Byron has no history anywhere prior to five years ago. Meanwhile police see uncanny parallels between the homicides and mystery novels written by Sonja Elliot.

This exhilarating romantic suspense is a tense thriller that grips the audience from the moment Charles escapes from prison; the plot keeps the attention of fans as the tension mounts and twists occur. The audience will wonder if Charles truly is the killer or is there is someone else perhaps from Ellie's shadowy past. Finally there is the link to the Elliot novels to muddy the bayous further in what is a sensational tale that keeps readers wondering whose doing what to whom.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 21, 2004

Summary

Death at Mardi Gras

Ellie Byron witnessed the first murder
Two years ago during Mardi Gras a young woman was brutally killed with an ice pick. Charles Penn, a hard-eyed man with a history of violence, was convicted. But Ellie was never certain of his guilt. Now, while being transported between maximum security prisons, he's escaped.

Death in Diamonds

Suddenly another woman is found dead, lying cold on a bed of diamonds in a New Orleans jewelry shop. Recognizing that both murders mirror the crimes in bestselling novels by Sonia Elliott and must be connected, the police show up at Ellie's Toussaint, Louisiana, bookshop. The first murder had frightened Ellie, but their news of a second terrifies her. Afraid for her own safety, she turns to the only person she really trusts: attorney Joe Gable. Joe would give his life to protect Ellie, but neither he nor Ellie knows just how deadly and brilliant an enemy they face—or how near he is.

Death of a Witness

When the third book in Elliott's mystery series is released, Joe and Ellie realize that time has run out. In this book, the killer eliminates the only threat to his freedom. The last death will be the death of a witness.