The Sleeping Beauty Killer

Starred review from October 17, 2016
A clever plot and a cast of intriguing characters, whose actions and agendas are easily misconstrued, boost bestseller Clark and Burke's third novel featuring Laurie Morgan, the producer of the New Yorkâbased TV show Under Suspicion (after 2015's All Dressed in White). Casey Carter (aka Crazy Casey or the Sleeping Beauty Killer), who served a 15-year sentence for manslaughter in the death of her fiancé, Hunter Raleigh III, seeks Laurie out and begs Laurie to help prove her innocence. Casey names five possible suspects who had opportunity and motive for killing Hunter, though she has few allies to support her cause. Meanwhile, Laurie's lover, attorney Alex Buckley, is no longer host of the show, having been replaced without Laurie's input by Ryan Nichols, a hotshot lawyer. Plagued by a rocky relationship with Ryan and a worrisome disconnect with Alex, Laurie interviews everyone she can and finds much that seems to confirm Casey's guilt and nothing that suggests her innocence. The authors keep Laurie and the reader grasping for answers till the end. Agents: Bob Barnett and Deenen Howell, Williams & Connolly.

November 1, 2016
Laurie Moran and the staff of Under Suspicion reopen a cold case almost everyone else is convinced was closed tight 15 years ago.The day after Katherine "Casey" Carter is released from prison after serving a term for manslaughter in the death of her fiance, Hunter Raleigh III, she sneaks out of her mother's house and pays a call on Laurie. Though even her mother doubts her continued protestations of innocence, Casey tells Laurie she wants Under Suspicion to revisit the case, letting the chips fall where they may. It's no wonder Casey was convicted. Her story about nodding off in Hunter's car after a Raleigh Foundation gala--an exam later found alcohol and Rohypnol in her bloodstream--and then waking up on a sofa, apparently having slept through his murder, was always hard to believe. And Laurie naturally finds little enthusiasm for Casey's demand for vindication among the suspects she proposes in her stead: her ex-boyfriend Jason Gardner, who trashed her in a tell-all memoir; Gabrielle Lawson, the jealous socialite who'd set her cap on Hunter; Hunter's underachieving younger brother, Andrew Raleigh; Hunter's friend Mark Templeton, CFO of the Raleigh Foundation; and Mary Jane Finder, bloodless personal assistant to Gen. James Raleigh, the father who'd never accepted Casey as daughter-in-law material. In fact, the most obvious effect of Laurie's inquiries, apart from riling the other suspects, is to reveal new evidence against Casey herself. An added complication is posed by Ryan Nichols, the gifted but callow and altogether iffy new host of Under Suspicion brought on to replace the departed Alex Buckley, whose six-year romantic pursuit of Laurie (All Dressed in White, 2015, etc.) seems nearly as cold as the case of Crazy Casey. Fleet, conscientious, and utterly true to its carefully wrought formula.

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November 15, 2016
Casey Carter was dubbed the Sleeping Beauty Killer when she stood trial for killing her wealthy fiance and was convicted, despite claiming that she had been drugged that evening and slept through the murder. After 15 years in prison, she's a free woman and wants to clear her name. Casey begs the cold-case reality-TV show Under Suspicion to profile her and help prove her innocence. The problem is, when the show's creator, Laurie Moran, and her team start investigating, Casey looks guiltier than ever. And the show's new host, Ryan Nichols, seems to think the case isn't worth reopening. Laurie continues to call on former host Alex Buckley for his expertise and support. Alex, meanwhile, is still waiting for Laurie to give herself permission to move on after her husband's death. Although not as compelling as many of the individual works by these collaborators, this third series entry (following All Dressed in White, 2015) is a quick suspense read from two very popular writers and will satisfy plenty of eager readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)