Danielle Steel, Southern Lights

New York Assistant District Attorney Alexa Hamilton is assigned the lead of prosecuting alleged serial killer Luke Quentin of rape and murder. The case is loaded with forensic evidence that Alexa sifts through diligently until the single mom is distracted when her seventeen year old daughter Savannah begins receiving letters threatening to harm her. Alexa assumes Luke or an ally is behind the nasty threats.

Alexa asks her former spouse Tom Beaumont, who lives in Charleston, to keep their teenage child Savannah with him and presumably safe. His current wife who was also his first spouse objects to the intruder from his in between marriage, but Tom ignores her complaints and that of his upper crust family. As Savannah becomes closer to her dad and step-siblings, Alexa also begins to feel better about her relationships especially after meeting Edward.

Although wrapped inside a serial killer legal thriller, SOUTHERN LIGHTS remains more a typical Danielle Steel affluent family drama as the focus is on how everyone in the extended Beaumont-Hamilton circles interrelate or do not. Entertaining especially for fans of Ms. Steel, the threatening letters subplot takes a back seat to the Alexa personal drama.

Harriet Klausner