Jamie Denton The Matchmaker

The Matchmaker

Jamie Denton

Brava, Nov 2006, $14.00

ISBN 0758210124

Over two years ago, former FBI profiler Greer Garson Lomax's life collapsed. First there was the botched serial-killer case that led to the estrangement with her lover Agent Ash Keller. After quitting the Feds, she moved to Magnolia, North Carolina to start over by converting a dilapidated mansion into a bed and breakfast. However, to pay her renovation costs and other bills, Greer accepts a job as a deputy sheriff in a town where major crimes never happen.

Because of her background with the FBI, Greer is assigned to investigate "the Matchmaker" case. . Greer believes funeral home owner Parker Hennessy is an escaped convict who lures females to his parlors so that they can accompany their lifemate, a dead man, into the afterlife. Greer realizes she needs help to bring Hennessy to justice and to keep her and her sister Vivien Lee from becoming soulmates of recently demised men; she asks Ash for help.

THE MATCHMAKER is a terrific romantic suspense thriller that avoids going over the top as many serial killer tales do because of the anchor of the realistic lead pair. Greer is a wonderful protagonist, who wants to run away again rather than face her darkest fears after her last Fed case collapsed so badly, but she cannot leave as her sister and other women are in jeopardy. Thus she displays great courage. Ash is still angry with Greer for dumping him rather than turning to him, but he will never allow her to confront evil alone again. Together they make a formidable team battling a dangerous, clever and malevolent psychopath who ironically serves as a matchmaker for them. Jamie Denton is at her best with this gripping thriller.

Harriet Klausner