Ann Maxwell has written over 60 books in multiple genres; as Elizabeth Lowell (Die in Plain Sight
), she creates dialogue with immediacy and emotional coloration that sets her apart from the romantic suspense pack. Her 10th outing as Lowell begins with the tidy murder of "The Senator," the ill and infirm patriarch of a prominent Taos, N.Mex., clan. Carly May, a genealogist/historical researcher, is commissioned to write a family history by a disgruntled family member who hopes she'll dig up dirt. As Carly's research starts in earnest, she meets, among the Senator's many legitimate and illegitimate children, Dan Duran, a former CIA-like operative who, she finds out (but the reader knows all along), is the Senator's illegitimate grandson. Carly gets dire threats, she and Dan get close, and more people die. By combining new techniques of DNA testing with old-fashioned research and detective work (lots of appealing New Mexican history comes into play), Carly and Dan finally discover the truth about the family. But readers will care less about that than about their many charming exchanges, which Lowell crafts with sophistication and a sense of play. Quality and quantity may not be mutually exclusive after all. (July 1)
Details
Reviewed on: 05/30/2005
Genre: Fiction
Analog Audio Cassette - 978-0-7927-3648-6
Downloadable Audio - 978-0-06-088458-1
MP3 CD - 978-0-7927-3650-9
Open Ebook - 480 pages - 978-0-06-085888-9
Open Ebook - 1 pages - 978-0-7927-4436-8
Other - 480 pages - 978-0-06-173919-4
Other - 480 pages - 978-0-06-116063-9
Paperback - 608 pages - 978-0-06-078717-2
Peanut Press/Palm Reader - 480 pages - 978-0-06-085885-8
