Starred review from July 2, 2001
Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Buchanan has retained an impeccably high standard since turning to fiction with 1990's Nobody Lives Forever, and her eighth mystery featuring Miami News
crime reporter Britt Montero is one of the best. Narrated with assurance by Brilliance veteran Burr, the audio production benefits from this mystery's unusually streamlined style. Typically, Britt's adventures feature abundant, fascinating mini-mysteries popping up on the job, diverting her attention from the main case. This time, the mystery is more tightly focused. Some may miss the extra color, but no one will find anything lacking in this riveting, complex and clever thriller. Britt's immediate task is to identify the nude, recently dead body of a beautiful woman that has washed ashore. Once I.D.'d, the mystery grows: she was believed to have been murdered 10 years earlier and her husband has spent a decade on Death Row for the crime. Where was she all those years, and who found and killed her for real this second time? Rich comic relief is provided by the upcoming wedding of Britt's ever-pregnant friend Angel (picture bridesmaid Britt in a salmon-colored dress with a bustle), while emotional hurts surface with the cracking of the normally calm façade of Britt's mother, who holds a key to the mystery. A white-knuckle climax tops this outstanding effort. Simultaneous release with the Morrow hardcover (Forecasts, Mar. 5).
March 5, 2001
When the body of a beautiful woman is found floating offshore, seaweed in her hair, veteran Miami News
police-beat reporter Britt Montero gets the call in an engrossing who-was-it that soon becomes an equally intriguing whodunit. Britt senses a good story in the making, and when the body remains unclaimed and foul play is established, she is sure of it. A fingerprint check identifies the well-cared-for mermaid as Kaithlin Jordan of the prominent department store family. One problem: she's been dead for 10 years, and her husband is scheduled to be executed for her murder. Kaithlin flourished at the family's flagship store and was rumored to be the brains of the outfit. Britt's mother, a longtime employee, trained her, but avoids queries about the young woman. Once again Britt enlists staff photographer Lottie Dane and cigar-chomping police detective Emery Rychek, along with News
librarian Onnie and the rest of her support network, to uncover the woman's past. Drawing on her own rich experience as a Miami reporter, Buchanan (Pulse) charts Britt's determined pursuit of the truth. The reader is along every step of the way, even if things go a bit over the top as the outwardly tough Britt continually struggles to balance the problems of daily life and possible romance with the horrors she encounters in the all-consuming job she loves. Agent, Michael Congdon.