Elizabeth Lowell, Blue Smoke and Murder

I'm in the middle of "Blue Smoke and Murder" by Elizabeth Lowell

Disclaimer: The below is merely my opinion. I'm just reading the book.

Categories: Mystery, Suspense

I don't know how it ends yet but it reads just like all the Elizabeth Lowell books I've read. A beautiful woman is on her own and the trouble is getting worse. There's a desert involved and, often, an old home place. She gets in touch with St. Kilda Consulting and they send in an irritating but handsome agent to help. They travel all around hiding from the bad guys and/or fighting it out. The romantic pull is irresistable ... and it works out in the end. (Except I haven't read the end.)

And it's fun. The characters grab your interest. You wonder if or when they will give in to the attraction. The bad guys make you want them to lose.

The basic plot is a young woman, Jill, called back to the family cabin in the wilds of northern Arizona when her great-aunt dies in a fire. She doesn't know that it was set by her aunt's killers who were looking for the lost paintings of a famous western painter. Once she gets there, she's their next target.

She calls in an old favor and gets Zach assigned to protect her. He sets off all her hormones and irritates her to no end. She's an independent woman after all.

You can see where it goes from there. He keeps her alive. Together the figure out why someone is after the paintings. The tension mounts and so forth.

It has: gun fights, romance, corrupt art dealers, valuable family paintings, male chauvinist pigs, friends in the hospital, drug addled bad guys

What did I like: The story keeps moving and though you know where it will end the fun is in the journey.

What didn't I like: Jill is a bit too impulsive, too independent and too talented. Ditto for Zach.

Rating: 3 of 5, I enjoyed it.

Personal notes: I'll update you when I finish it. Sometimes a book is really good until you get to the end.