Young, beautiful
and determined Francesca Cahill is out on yet another adventure in turn-of-the-century NY
city. But the theme is getting more and more complicated with each successive addition to
this series. Coping with a burnt hand and still in pain, Francesca nevertheless hurries to
her future sister-in-law Sarah Channing’s house where she learns of the mysterious
vandalism of Sarah’s painting studio. She’s also worried about the ominous note
she’d received from Leah Anne, Rick Bragg’s estranged wife. Torn between her
love for Rick and her growing attraction towards his half-brother Calder Hart, maddened by
this tug-of-war between her heart and her heart, Francesca still plunges headlong in yet
another dangerous case.
At this time, Bragg’s parents
come to stay in New York along with some of their children. Francesca wants desperately to
get into their good books, but these astute people soon deduce how things lie between her,
Rick and Calder and no one is happy. Meanwhile, Francesca’s parents are in despair
over her continued sleuthing despite their protests and Evan’s rebellion has the
whole household in an uproar. When Lucy Savage, Rick’s half-sister, gets in a bit of
a fix, she naturally turns to Francesca for help. Now Francesca has not one, but two cases
on her injured hands! Little does Francesca realize how completely her life will change
towards the end of the book, when two very surprising events occur!
Brenda Joyce continues to keep the
readers intrigued in her Francesca Cahill mystery series. Some of the conflicts do not
seem to have a solution and they’re continued in book after book – while this
gets tedious after a while, it’s nevertheless understandable as each book spans a
duration of about a week or so, and each successive book picks off right where the
previous book ends. This book has a good mystery although not a lot of clues are provided,
very interesting protagonists, intense emotional drama, pathos in buckets, and is greatly
entertaining as usual. And again as usual, the author leaves enough unresolved so as to
whet the readers’ appetite and keep them longing for the next installment in this
series. This series is gradually growing towards reaching a crisis point, where things
have got to be resolved one way or the other – if the author continues to prolong
this, then this series is sure to lose much of its charm. But as of now, this build-up of
tension is very delicious and greatly effective. Francesca, Rick and Calder are now
involved in a love triangle for which there seems to be no solution in sight. Brenda Joyce
certainly knows how to hook her readers!
Reviewed By Rashmi Srinivas
for The Road to Romance
June 26, 2003 |
