March 1, 2020
Quick returns to 1930s California (Tightrope, 2019, etc.) with another sexy but derivative thriller. After refusing to marry the man her wealthy parents favored, fiercely independent Vivian Brazier moved from San Francisco to Adelina Beach to pursue her career as an art photographer. Her mother and sister, Lyra, who becomes engaged to Vivian's reject, send her gifts, but her father has cut off support, so she does studio portraits and freelance photojournalism to support herself. Studying her own photos surrounding the murder of Hollywood star Clara Carstairs by the Dagger Killer leads her to believe the perp is a photographer, and her tip to the police puts them on the right path. But a chance to sell her work at Fenella Penfield's gallery falls through, and Vivian is stunned when she uses her sixth sense to learn that Fenella is furious over Vivian's photos of nude men. Meantime, Nick Sundridge, who works with his dog, Rex, as a private eye, is striving to harness his strange fever dreams to help his investigations. After Vivian's narrow escape from the Dagger Killer, Nick arrives to warn her that she's marked for death by a hired killer. He's an emissary for Luther Pell, who is an old wartime friend of his uncle's and who runs a nightclub in Burning Cove and has connections to the FBI and other government agencies. Nick convinces Vivian that he can protect her by posing as her assistant while trying to find the killer whose coded journal of poems contains the names of his victims and the methods he's used to kill them. Escaping when the killer tries to burn them alive, Nick and Vivian (and Rex) move to the Burning Cove Hotel, where they set a trap for their quarry while the flame of their attraction burns brighter. The overly complicated mystery plays second fiddle to the sexual tango between two psychic partners.
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Starred review from March 23, 2020
Quick demonstrates her mastery of sexy and sophisticated romantic thrillers with this superb fourth installment to her Burning Cove series, set in the golden age of Hollywood. Uninterested in a society marriage, heiress Vivian Brazier leaves San Francisco to build a career as an art photographer in L.A., paying the bills by taking headshots for beefcake wannabe actors and racing to crime scenes to shoot exclusives for the dailies. When her knowledge of photography comes in handy in helping the police identify the so-called “Dagger Killer,” Vivian unwittingly makes herself a target of someone who may be the murderer’s accomplice. Private investigator Nick Sundridge is hired by a mysterious third party to protect her, and together they hatch a plot to catch the killer using Nick’s special ability to “see things” in visions and psychic dreams. Quick expertly balances the paranormal intrigue of their investigation with the building attraction between Nick and Vivian while making time for delightful historical details. Readers will revel in the gripping mystery and 1930s glamour of this expertly crafted romance. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency.
Starred review from March 15, 2020
Snapping pictures of crime scenes isn't art, but it does pay the bills. At least that is what photojournalist Vivian Brazier tells herself as she hustles to sell her photographs to newspapers in between working on her photography portfolio. When Vivian's artistic training prompts her to spot an important clue in some of the crime scene photos taken of the Dagger Killer's victims, however, it puts her squarely in the focus of a very determined murderer. When private investigator Nick Sundridge subsequently turns up on her doorstep with orders to protect her, Vivian quickly discovers what an effective team she and Nick make, on and off the case. Close Up, the latest picture-perfect installment in Quick's 1930s-set Burning Cove series (Tightrope, 2019) is another thoroughly entertaining marriage of spine-tingling suspense with sophisticated and sexy romance. Put this together with a plot spiced with a dash of the paranormal, writing kissed with a surfeit of delectably sharp wit, and a cast of characters that includes a clever dog who could give Rin Tin Tin a run for the money, and you have all the required elements for another best-seller for the redoubtable, remarkable Ms. Quick.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)
April 24, 2020
Californian Vivian Brazier is an art photographer by day and a crime scene photographer by night. Capturing a series of Hollywood murders, she notices specific details overlooked by the police, and in doing so, she may have attracted the killer's attention. Nick Sundridge is a private investigator with a unique ability to "see" things others don't, which he considers a curse. It is Nick's job to protect Vivian from being the killer's next victim. While the plot quickly draws readers in and makes this story hard to put down, in some places the 1930s setting doesn't feel historically accurate, yet overall this don't detract from enjoying this suspenseful read. VERDICT Quick, who also writes romances as Jayne Ann Krentz, mixes light mystery with romance perfectly in this fourth "Burning Cove" novel (after Tightrope), painting a vivid account of California and the art world during the 1930s. [See Prepub Alert, 11/11/19.]--Victoria Kollar, Racine P.L., WI
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