French Silk

May 11, 1992
Set in atmospheric New Orleans, Brown's ( Breath of Scandal ; Mirror Image ) latest highly entertaining novel again demonstrates her mastery of the romantic suspense genre. When evangelist Jackson Wilde is murdered in his hotel room, handsome, driven district attorney Robert Cassidy has a long list of suspects. At the top of it are Wilde's young wife, Ariel, and his son, Josh, who have been having an affair. But soon the main suspect is Claire Laurent, the owner of the lingerie company French Silk, whose sexy catalogue Wilde targeted in his campaign against pornography. Claire had a motive; she had collected and then hidden an extensive file of clippings on Wilde and she had attended his service the night he died. Cassidy has one problem with fingering her as the villain: he is falling in love with her. Claire, who battles childhood memories of life with her mentally unstable mother, protects herself by building emotional walls to keep him out. Other characters, including Claire's best friend and business partner, Yasmine, guard their own secrets, which may or may not be related to the murder. Despite occasionally stilted and didactic dialogue, the novel is adroitly plotted and sleekly paced, and has just the right mix of menace and sex to keep pages turning. 150,000 first printing; Doubleday Book Club main selection; Literary Guild alternate; author tour.

May 1, 1992
Televangelist Jackson Wilde targets the catalog of Claire Laurent's mail-order lingerie business, French Silk, as part of his anti-pornography campaign. When Wilde's body is discovered in a New Orleans hotel room, Laurent becomes the number-one suspect in a murder investigation that also involves her mentally distracted mother; her partner, the beautiful model Yasmine; Wilde's wife and son, both working members of his ministry; and a local senator with a shady private life. Sparks fly between Laurent and assistant district attorney Cassidy as the inquiry heats up along with the weather. The lies she tells to impede his investigation, though prompted by an honorable motive, sometimes make her appear less than noble. But this fast-paced story will keep readers guessing until the final pages. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/92.-- Marilyn Jordan, Keiser Coll. Lib., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Copyright 1992 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 1992
Televangelist Jackson Wilde was on a national anti-smut crusade when someone shot him in his room at the New Orleans Fairmont Hotel. Was the murderer Reverend Wilde's ambitious young second wife--or her stepson and lover, who preferred classical piano to the gospel hymns he had to play at Daddy's services? Could one of the women at French Silk--the French Quarter lingerie firm whose "erotic fantasy" catalog was on Wilde's porno hit list--have done it? Claire Laurent, the strong-willed owner-designer? Or partner and model Yasmine, devastated by a seesaw affair with a married U.S. congressman? Or Laurent's mother Mary Catherine, in limited touch with reality for some 30 years? Guilt and ambition demand that assistant district attorney Robert Cassidy find and prosecute the killer, but his developing love for Laurent interferes. Regrettably, the promising First Amendment plot line fades early, shifting attention to fairly predictable questionings and couplings. Over the past decade, Brown (aka Rachel Ryan, Erin St. Claire, and Laura Jordan) has written nearly 50 novels, including such recent best-sellers as "Mirror Image" and "Breath of Scandal." Her latest effort has strong promotional backing, a first printing of 150,000 copies, and is a Doubleday Main Selection and Literary Guild Alternate. Readers may find "French Silk"'s fictional fluff as tempting as the chocolate cream pie whose name it shares. ((Reviewed Apr. 1, 1992))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1992, American Library Association.)