Linda Palmer, Love Her to Death

Linda Palmer, Love Her to Death - Morgan Tyler, the head writer for the daytime drama Love of My Life, is promoted to co-executive producer. On her very first day on the job, one of her female stars, Cybelle Carter, is worried that she is going to be on the cover of Time. She fears the exposure might kill her. Cybelle confesses that she is married to a mysterious rich person, Philippe Abacasas, who is somewhere always surrounded by bodyguards and who has in his possession multiple passports.

When Morgan gets a call that a dead body was found in Cybelle's apartment, she immediately thinks that her star is dead. She goes over to the apartment and identifies the body as that of Jeannie Ford, Cybelle's stunt double. She meets the mysterious Abacasas who warns her to beware of Cybelle and her brother. He also tells her that his wife stole two rare Greek coins from him before she disappeared. Attracted to the man, Morgan doesn't know who to believe, but she is determined to get some answers even though someone is going to incredible and fatal lengths to stop her.

The heroine can be summed up in one word, spunky. She deals with a stressful job with total calm. She works overtime to find a murderer going the extra kilometer to do so and juggles two sexy men after a five year drought including a one night fling with Cybelle's husband. Readers are going to like this mystery which is rich in characterizations and action and short on gore. Linda Palmer proves with this fine cozy that she has what it takes to reach the top of her profession.

Berkley, May 2005, $6.50, 326 pp.

ISBN: 042520295X

Harriet Klausner