Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mystery Book Review: Hush by Kate White

Mysterious Reviews: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller and Crime Novel Reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books


by
Non-series

Harper (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-157661-1 (0061576611)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-157661-4 (9780061576614)
Publication Date: March 2010
List Price: $24.99

— ◊ —

Hush by Kate White
Buy Hush by Kate White

Review: A marketing executive becomes embroiled in a murder investigation that puts her life in jeopardy in Hush, a non-series thriller by Kate White.

Lake Warren's life was already in turmoil. She has recently begun a challenging assignment with a Park Avenue fertility clinic just as her husband moves out, seeking a divorce plus full custody of their two children. At a company dinner, she meets the handsome and sexy Dr. Mark Keaton, newly hired by the clinic, with whom she leaves at the end of the evening. They have a romantic interlude in his apartment after which they both fall asleep. She awakens in the middle of the night and goes out onto the terrace for some fresh air. Dozing off on one of the chaise lounges she wakes up sometime later, and returns to the bedroom to find that Keaton has been murdered, his throat slashed from one end to the other. She knows she should call the police, but her thoughts run to her children and the upcoming custody hearing. Gathering her belongings, she leaves. When the police come to question all who had known Keaton, Lake lies, saying she met him at the dinner the previous night but hadn't seen him since. But like many lies, Lake soon becomes entangled within them, and doesn't think she can maintain her charade much longer. Along with the police, she wonders who killed Keaton. But the question only Lake can ask herself: Did the killer know she was asleep on the terrace at the time of the murder?

The answer must be yes ... but maybe not. In the days following the murder, Lake receives suspicious phone calls late at night and her cat is taken, but returned completely shaved. These events could be related to her work with the clinic itself, which is having its own image problems (hence her employment). Unsure who she can trust, she begins her own investigation in an effort to identify the killer before she becomes a suspect -- or victim -- herself.

Hush is an electrifying thriller, with Lake Warren a compelling lead character, smart and resourceful. The anguish she feels is palpable, the fear for her safety balanced by the concern for her family. The narrative is well-paced, the subplots both relevant to the main storyline and contributing to the overall suspense. Readers will be hard-pressed not to complete this tensely written novel in one setting.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Hush and to Authors on the Web for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

— ◊ —

Synopsis (from the publisher): When Lake Warren learns that her husband, Jack, is suing for full custody of their two kids four months after their separation, she's pretty certain that things can't get any worse. The upside is that she's working with the Advanced Fertility Center as a marketing consultant, alongside the attractive, flirtatious Dr. Keaton. But the morning after their one-night stand, Lake finds Keaton with his throat slashed and discovers that things can indeed become worse—they can become deadly.

So as not to jeopardize her case for custody, Lake is forced to lie to the police. Having just been intimate with a man who has been murdered, and wanting to protect herself from being charged with the crime, she begins her own search for the truth. Meanwhile, the police start looking at her closely, people at the clinic start treating her with hostility, and strange clues begin dropping—quite literally—on her doorstep, and Lake realizes that she is dangerously close to dark secrets, both about Keaton and the clinic. But can Lake stop what she's started before it's too late?

— ◊ —

Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

Return to Mystery Books News ...

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Omnimystery Blog Archive

Total Pageviews (last 30 days)

Omnimystery News
Original Content Copyright © 2022 — Omnimystery, a Family of Mystery Websites — All Rights Reserved
Guest Post Content (if present) Copyright © 2022 — Contributing Author — All Rights Reserved