Love Kills

Starred review from April 23, 2007
A
fter eight Britt Montero novels and two Cold Case Squad novels, Edgar-finalist Buchanan (Miami, It’s Murder
) brings Britt and the Cold Case Squad together in this first-rate mystery-thriller. When Miami police discover the remains of Spencer York, a kidnapper who worked for divorced fathers, members of the Cold Case Squad question veteran Miami News
crime reporter Britt Montero, the last person to see him alive. Britt, who’s mourning the death of her fiancé, finds a disposable camera in the ocean with pictures of a honeymooning couple lost at sea. The groom in the photo, Marsh Holt, later turns up alive, but his bride had drowned. Britt’s no-holds-barred investigative journalism leads her to an amazing discovery—Marsh has a habit of marrying women who meet their demise while honeymooning. Through an intricate web of twists and turns, Britt discovers that Marsh plans to marry once again. While the resolution of York’s murder comes as a real surprise, it’s Britt’s riveting quest for Marsh that provides the roller-coaster thrills.

Starred review from June 1, 2007
Trying to recover from the death of her fiancé (as recounted in "The Ice Maiden"), reporter Britt Montero has been holed up on a Caribbean island when she finds a camera with pictures of a honeymooning couple apparently lost at sea when their yacht sank. Back in Miami, the Cold Case Squad ("Cold Case Squad") needs to ask Britt some questions about an infamous kidnapper whose remains have just been discovered, because she was the last person to see him alive. Caught up in the anguish of the missing bride's parents, Britt is forced to ask for help from Lt. Katherine Riley, the longtime girlfriend of Britt's dead fiancé . Integrating characters from Buchanan's two popular series, the complex plot here provides enough action, emotion, fear, and danger to prove yet again that the author is a master of her craft. Highly recommended for all collections. Buchanan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning police reporter for the "Miami Herald". [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 2/1/07.]

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.