Sunday, January 25, 2009

Deadly Secrets-Leeann Burke

Deadly Secrets
Leeann Burke
Lachesis Publishing, Dec 2008, $14.95
ISBN: 1897370695

On the same day of the funeral of George Lafrance, the police inform his ward Roxanne St-Claire that someone murdered him. As Father Joe conducts the ceremony, Roxanne notices a young man at the funeral whose looks makes him most likely her beloved late foster father’s grandson whom she never met.

Renowned reclusive author Philippe Lafrance is in shock not so much from the death of his grandfather, but from never knowing he had been alive. He understands why his matriarchal family hid his grandfather and other secrets he has recently learned from him in order to keep him safe. Philippe knows someone murdered his father and his grandfather; he is probably next on the list having shown up at the funeral announcing his heritage to this unknown predator. When he and Roxanne meet at the funeral, each is stunned by their attraction for the other. However, both recognize the need to ignore their desire as catching a killer comes first; for him it is a matter of preservation while for her it is in honor of her cherished mentoring foster parent.

The key to this excellent romantic amateur sleuth novel is that the fully developed lead characters never lose sight of what is critical: finding the culprit before he or she makes their attempt to kill Philippe; the romance takes a necessary back seat to the suspense. The support cast is solid as Philippe and Roxanne investigate each suspect to fathom who the killer is. Fans will appreciate Leann Burke strong thriller as the identity of the killer is in plain sight yet almost impossible to pick out of the usual suspects.

Harriet Klausner