"Fascinating romantic police procedural"

On Pawleys Island off the coast of South Carolina, television reality reporter Nicole Sullivan of Twenty-Four Hours investigates is doing a reenactment of the murder of teenager Tara Mitchell and the disappearance of her two best friends who were supposed to have a sleepover together. Nobody has lived in the house since the murder for very long because the tenants felt they were residing with the ghosts of the dead girls.

During the filming, one of the technical people Kenen Wise is murdered in almost the same way that the teen was killed over a decade ago. Nicky investigates the crime which causes her to come into conflict with chief of police Joe Franconi. Even though they are working opposite sides of the murder investigation, the cop and the reporter fall in love, an emotion neither wants. Nicky sees ghosts and Joe is haunted by his guardian angel Brian who he knew when he worked vice in Trenton New Jersey. Joe thinks he's going crazy and Nicky believes in ghosts including Joe's because she sees him but it is up to the two protagonists to find the killer because the spirits don't reveal their insider information.

Karen Robards is one of the best writers of romantic suspense available today. Fans of Tami Hoag, Iris Johansen and Kay Hooper will love SUPERSTITION, a fascinating romantic police procedural with supernatural elements that add an extra dimension to the story line. Nicky is a wonderful protagonist, a reporter in the tradition of Lois Lane who will do whatever is necessary to get her story. Ms. Robards always delivers a thrilling reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted April 19, 2005

Sparks fly between a police chief and a reporter who are thrown together when a brutal killer comes out of hiding after fifteen years.

Summary

Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Sunny, idyllic, and picture perfect, until a tabloid news program airs a splashy segment about the community's only unsolved murder—the grisly stabbing of teenager Tara Mitchell and the subsequent disappearance of her two best friends, both thought to be long dead. In the years since the murders, several families have moved into the mansion where the crime occurred, each claiming that the dead girls still haunt the house. Beautiful redheaded reporter Nicole Sullivan, sensing the story that could be her big break, arranges for her mother, a renowned psychic, to contact the three victims via a live séance on the show Twenty-four Hours Investigates.

But something goes terribly wrong during the segment, and a young woman is murdered in the exact same manner as Tara Mitchell was fifteen years earlier. Pressured by her producers to get the inside story, Nicole is ordered to continue to investigate. As an attraction grows between Nicole and police chief Joe Franconi, another identical murder occurs, along with a menacing note warning that the original killer is back to claim three more lives. The body count rises, and so does the danger to Nicole, who is attacked, barely escaping with her life. She and Joe are forced to join forces as it becomes clear that the killer has set his sights on Nicole as his next victim.