The brilliant new novel from the incomparable Karen Rose, in which an arson leads to murder and blackmail, and a desperate search for those responsible. Four college kids set fire to a supposedly empty condominium block. But when they see the young girl at an upper-floor window desperately banging on the glass, clawing to get out, they realise their mistake. Although they don't all agree, the group leave the girl to her certain death, little realising that someone is there, watching their every move. Someone who has a nasty habit of blackmail and sees an opportunity for profit which is far greater than any they have ever had before. For local fire fighter David Hunter, getting the blaze under control is hard enough, but when he finds the girl's body he realises that this arson attack has become a murder case and the homicide cops are immediately called in. Now, as David works with the cops, it's a race to find the arsonists, and the blackmailer, before events escalate out of all control.
I read this book in bits and pieces on my phone, so it took me quite a while to get through. The good thing was, I was able to put it down and pick it up again a couple of weeks later and still figure out what was going on.
The mystery was solid, and kept you guessing, even when you are in the killer’s head part of the time.
This is set up to be more of a romantic suspense novel, but really I think it’s a police procedural with a heavy romantic element. Besides the parts where Olivia and David are each torturing themselves about their present and past actions, the romance is actually a rather small part of the book. Neither of them acted in a very logical way in between their first meeting and their second, but it’s not too hard to chalk that up to people being dumb about love.
Overall, I rather enjoyed this and will definitely keep more Karen Rose books on my to-read list.
