Linda Palmer, Kiss of Death

Kiss of Death

Linda Palmer

Berkley, May 2007, $7.99

ISBN: 0425215822

Having received a surprise inheritance, Love of My Life soap opera writer Morgan Tyler realizes she can afford to fund her dream. When she was six years old, a local sheriff found Morgan by herself in an abandoned van near Downsville, West Virginia, twenty-four years ago. A search to locate her parents failed and no one reported a little girl missing. Now she can hire a private investigator to find out who she is and why she was left by herself.

After warning Morgan that these types of cases rarely turn out happy, Bobby Novello agrees to investigate. He starts off with that local sheriff Masefield who initially found a young Morgan and arranged with a judge for her to have birth certificate. However, though he expects the worst, even a cynic like Bobby is unprepared for the twist of the arrest of Morgan's best friend Nancy Cummings, accused of murder; which means Morgan sleuthing to prove otherwise.

This entertaining investigative tale is actually at its best when the plot focuses on the back room of a soap opera although Bobby' inquiries are fascinating as readers almost as much as Morgan will want to know what happened back then. Morgan is a terrific protagonist who has gone through a lot in her thirty years of life as on top of what happened as a child -- her spouse died in Africa, yet she remains an optimist. The forth Daytime Mystery (see Love You Madly) is a wonderful combo amateur sleuth private investigative tale.

Harriet Klausner