"fun amateur sleuth on ice"

Bex Levy is a figure skating researcher for 24/7 Television Network. What she really wants to do is produce a show and she gets her chance when her boss assigns her the Lucian Pryce special, a tribute to a great figure skater and coach who still practices with champions at the age sixty five. At the skating rink, they watch Lucian on the ice when he suddenly trips and falls, which proves to be a DEATH DROP as he is dead almost immediately; Bex thinks he is murdered.

His blades on his skates are in bad shape something Lucian would never let happen. Bex makes her belief known to everyone close to Lucian and find they all have a motive. His daughter Sabrina blames him for the death of his first wife. His present wife holds him accountable for ending her promising career. His star pupil made the moves another pupil of Lucian's so she wouldn't be nervous before a performance but he dumps her. Dr. Gabriel Cassidy a former student tried to commit suicide because Lucian pushed her too hard. Even though nobody believes Bex's theory, she is determined to investigate until she is proven right.

The point of changes form chapter to chapter, each one dedicated to a specific character as they relate their feelings and relationships to the victim. It is a good technique in Alina Adams' capable hands as the audience sees why there are so many suspects with so many different motives. Readers will enjoy Bex stubbornly question the suspects while deciding whether to accept her boyfriend's proposal of marriage.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 2, 2007

Summary

When a world-renowned coach is murdered prior to a star-studded tribute scheduled in his honor, the answer to a death in the present comes from an inquiry into his scandal-ridden past.