Shari Shattuck Lethal

Lethal

Shari Shattuck

In Los Angeles, Calloway "Cally" Wilde finishes her shopping at the Little Tokyo Plaza and heads towards her car, when she sees a man with a gun accost an Asian girl. She intercedes using her umbrella as a weapon, but the guy shoots her before fleeing the scene. Although not much more than a scratch, the potential victim Aya Aikosha insures Cally goes to the hospital.

As Cally and Aya become acquainted, she begins to realize that a seemingly everyday occurrence, a mugging, is just the tip of the iceberg. Soon with her beloved Detective Evan Paley at her side more to do the impossible and keep her safe, Cally investigates illegal drug activities, the Geisha and homicide. However, someone perhaps the guy with the gun who introduced her to Aya, wants to silence the nosey American. Even Evan may prove not enough.

LETHAL is a fast-paced investigative tale LOADED with plenty of action and strong characters especially the heroine, who is a Good Samaritan instead of the "Bad Girl" label. The story line grips the audience once Cally intercedes in the mugging and never slows down until Los Angeles residents will feel they were hit by an earthquake. Shari Shattuck writes a fine romantic mystery with the emphasis on the wild female champion digging deeper into what is going on as much as her own grave if she is not cautious (a word not fully in her vocabulary).

Downtown, Jun 2005, $12.00, 352 pp.

ISBN: 0743463854

Harriet Klausner