When Detective Sergeant Duncan Hatcher is summoned to the home of Judge Cato Laird in the middle of the night to investigate a fatal shooting, he knows that discretion and kid-glove treatment are the keys to staying in the judge's good graces and keeping his job. At first glance, the case appears open-and-shut: Elise, the judge's trophy wife, interrupted a burglary in progress and killed the intruder in self-defense. But Duncan is immediately suspicious of Elise's innocent act. His gut feeling is that her account of the shooting is only partially true--and it's the parts she's leaving out that bother him. Duncan investigates further and quickly finds his career, as well as his integrity, in jeopardy--because he can't deny his increasing attraction to Elise Laird, even if she is a married woman, a proven liar, and a murder suspect.--From publisher description.
This wasn’t Sandra Brown’s best, but it’s not her worst, either. The good was Brown’s ability to build suspense – she’s one of the best. But not all of the characters worked for me. Duncan was a little too ruled by his hormones, and sometimes had mood swings that didn’t make much sense. His partner, DeeDee, was essentially the stereotypical homely girl who automatically hates anyone who is pretty whether she has a reason to or not. Elise is intended to be a mystery. You’re never quite sure which side of the equation she’s on, even at the end.
Also, the revenge plot that is the reason for everything made absolutely no sense to me. Without giving away too much, I don’t know what the person wanting revenge was thinking – they had no exit strategy. For a supposedly intelligent person, it was weak.
But, Brown does make you think hard about who you suspect and why, and that’s one of the reasons why I read her books.
