As we saw in the first book of
this series, ‘Deadly ‘, Francesca Cahill found that she had a penchant and
talent for solving puzzling crimes, and her first and very successful debut attempt at
this only whets her appetite for more. Excited and elated, she even has cards printed out
as such, and freely gives them away in the hope of garnering new clients. But never had
she thought that just hours after giving away a card, she would be called upon to solve
yet another crime! But it is so, and the new case begins most extraordinarily. She enters
a house belonging to a woman of low repute on her request, and discovers a dead body lying
within! The bizarreness of the whole affair has Francesca worried, and she’s very
glad that she’d the foresight to bring Joel (the pickpocket whom she’d hired to
be her assistant) and she sends him to get the police. Commissioner Rick Bragg is
exasperated and yet cautiously delighted to see Francesca again, and in such
circumstances.
The passion developing between them is heated, but
for some extraordinary reason, Rick is reluctant to either admit it or to take it any
further and this puzzles Francesca. When Calder Hart, Rick’s half-brother and his
bitter enemy, becomes the prime suspect in this new case, Francesca’s cup of woes
just runneth over. She’s at the same time charmed and repelled by the hedonistic
millionaire Hart, but senses his hidden pain and is understanding towards him, and this
simply infuriates a very jealous Rick! Torn between brothers and while continuing her
often perilous inquiries with a steadfast Joel at her side, Francesca has to cope with a
variety of familial problems as well – her usually understanding father forbids her
to fall in love with Rick; her mother repeats the same and at the same time, tries to
encourage her interest in the eligible bachelor Hart; her brother is drinking himself into
oblivion over the marriage he’s been forced to agree to; and her sister’s
happily married life is in shambles due to a discovery Francesca made in the previous
book! Understanding everything, a fraught but plucky Francesca is busy solving the crime
while at the same time trying to bring peace in her own personal and familial life.
Brenda Joyce and her intrepid young sleuth
Francesca Cahill are as entertaining as ever. The mystery is good, and the way Francesca
goes about solving it, is daring in the extreme but one which ultimately lands results!
The domestic problems introduced in the first book are deepened, in some situations even
worsened, but not solved in this book. The passion that was conceived during the course of
the first adventure between Francesca and Rick Bragg is as deep and ardent as ever in this
one. But Rick’s reluctance and the unknown reasons behind it give this tale a
piquancy that was missing in the first one. An added element of danger and lust comes in
the form of Calder Hart, Rick’s black sheep of a brother. Calder is very refreshing
with both his daring as well his brutal honesty. And the frisson of passion that subtly
develops between him and both the Cahill sisters is extraordinary and unforeseen and
simply too delicious for words!
Brenda Joyce has crafted the beginning of a most
amazing and enjoyable string of books in this series, one which is promising in the
extreme and ripe with passion, romance and danger! This turn-of-the-century novel is
chock-full of details of a New York city gone by. Ms. Joyce, with great expertise and
feelings, and through Francesca, portrays the most intriguing atmosphere of this era,
where a woman is far more independent than the women in their past, and far less than the
women of today. Well-developed characters and a most thrilling plot make this book a most
successful addition to Brenda Joyce’s Francesca Cahill series!
Reviewed By Rashmi Srinivas for The Road to
Romance
June 27, 2003 |
