Red Flags

February 1, 2016
Kaehler’s exciting, pedal-to-metal fourth Kate Reilly mystery (after 2014’s Avoidable Contact) takes the race car driver to California, where she’s been hired to coach movie star Maddie Theabo, who’s participating in the celebrity group in the Long Beach Grand Prix, in which Kate is racing in the professional group. Meanwhile, the Long Beach police ask Kate to identify the body of her contemptible cousin, Billy Reilly-Stinson, whom she scarcely knew but who had her business card in his pocket. Kaehler keeps the suspense high as she shifts among Kate’s turbulent history with her father and his family, the investigation of Billy’s murder, the Hollywood scene, and the anticipatory buildup to the big race. Technical terms related to the racing world may baffle some readers, but everyone will root for Kate, a strong, likable heroine, all the way to the finish line. Agent: Lucienne Diver, Knight Agency.

February 1, 2016
Another racetrack, another murder for a driver who'd rather be racing than sleuthing. Kate Reilly has a busy schedule at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Her racing prospects have been improved by her new sponsor, Frame Savings, a bank owned by her largely estranged family, which has chosen to finance her activities and give her a chance to break into IndyCar and possibly NASCAR. Raised by her grandparents, Kate has only recently met her father, James Hightower Reilly, the only member of her newfound family who's nice to her. A dead body with her business card in its pocket turns out to be that of her cousin Billy Reilly-Stinson, who, with his father, Edward, and cousin Holden Sherain, has been particularly hateful to her. It's lucky that she can produce an alibi when Edward accuses her of killing Billy. Although Kate would love to ignore the murder and concentrate on driving and coaching movie star Maddie Theabo for a celebrity race, Grand Prix owner Nikki Gray and race president Don Kessberg beg her to solve the crime. Reality star Nikki is wealthy and smarter than she looks, even if she was having an affair with the much younger Billy. Kate must also deal with FBI agent Ryan Johnston, who may be investigating the racing crowd and who's interested enough in Kate to ask for a date. Also asked out by a movie-star heartthrob, Kate, living the high life in Hollywood, tries to understand her father's wobbly support as she does her best to impress the IndyCar team she's testing with. Despite her attempts to ignore the murder, she's dragged into situations that may make her the next victim. In the fourth in this character-driven series, Kaehler (Avoidable Contact, 2014, etc.) complements its exploration of Kate's problems and triumphs with a better mystery and plenty of suspects you love to hate.

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April 1, 2016

Professional driver Kate Reilly is in Long Beach, CA, for the famed Long Beach Grand Prix, when she is called by the police to identify the body of her despised cousin, Billy. There are many suspects in Billy's murder including Nikki Gray, the beautiful widow of the race event's owner, Nikki's assistant, and Billy's friend, Holden. Kate is also busy trying to negotiate with her new sponsor, her estranged father's bank, not to mention attempting to break into both NASCAR and IndyCar racing. Solving a murder is low on Kate's list of priorities. VERDICT For adrenaline junkies who love racing, Kaehler's intricately plotted fourth series outing (after Avoidable Contact) offers a speedy and engaging read. Kate is an appealing character with plenty of chutzpah; driving an open-wheel race car is not for sissies.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2016
In the fourth Kate Reilly mystery, the professional race-car driver is in California for 10 days, participating in the Grand Prix of Long Beach. But Kate, who has a habit of wandering into dangerous situations, is unsettled by the murder of her cousin, a man she barely knew. Because of that family connection, and because her family's bank is sponsoring her at the race, she feels she's under some pressure to find out who killed the man. This noveland, in fact, this seriesis proof that an author doesn't have to break any new ground to tell a good mystery story; in most ways, it's a familiar amateur-sleuth tale (even a tad predictable in places), but because the author has a sprightly, engaging style, and because Kate is a charming heroine in an unusual career, we really don't mind that we've seen these story elements before. Readers looking for a new amateur-sleuth seriesespecially those who find the car-racing frame intriguingshould definitely check out the Kate Reilly mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)