Synopsis
When radio reporter Carol Childs is called to a crime scene in the Hollywood Hills at five thirty in the morning, she’s convinced it must be a publicity stunt to promote a new movie. That is, until she sees the body hanging from the center of the Hollywood sign. The police are quick to rule it a suicide, but something doesn’t add up for Carol. Particularly after a mysterious caller named Mustang Sally confesses to the murder on the air and threatens to kill again.
With the help of an incorrigible PI, her best friend, and a kooky psychic, Carol is drawn into the world of contract killers and women scorned. As she races to find the real killer, she finds herself faced with a decision that will challenge everything she thought she knew.
Related subjects include: women sleuths, murder mystery series, whodunit mysteries (whodunnit), amateur sleuth mysteries, book club recommendations, suspense, noir.
Books in the Carol Childs Mystery Series:
SHADOW OF DOUBT (#1)
BEYOND A DOUBT (#2)
WITHOUT A DOUBT (#3)
ROOM FOR DOUBT (#4)
Review
I have a few favorite series and this is one of them. I am not sure what it is about the characters or the setting, but I always find the books intriguing and they even leave me on the edge of my seat at times.
Carol always manages to find herself in the thick of events, probably because she is a radio journalist and I don’t see how she could avoid those news stories. I do feel like she puts herself in harms way too often and feels it is necessary to omit pertinent details to others that might be involved in the situation.
This book does deal with abuse and how a vigilante group chooses to handle those men found guilty (but not by a court) and dealing with them in their own way. I think many would say that by the time a court would step in help the abused woman it is too late. This group takes it out of the court’s hands and inflicts their own brand of justice.
There is a new character in this book, Chase. He is a local PI that Carol is working with on this case. There is definitely some chemistry between the two and I suspect he will be around a lot more and perhaps a romance will bud between the two.
We give this 5 paws up.
About This Author
Nancy Cole Silverman credits her twenty-five years in news and talk radio for helping her to develop an ear for storytelling. But it wasn’t until 2001 after she retired from news and copywriting that she was able to sit down and write fiction fulltime. Much of what Silverman writes about today she admits is pulled from events that were reported on from inside some of Los Angeles’ busiest newsrooms where she spent the bulk of her career. In the last ten years she has written numerous short stories and novelettes. Today Silverman lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Bruce and two standard poodles.
