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Claire Layton is Natasha Cooper under another name and the different by-line is intended to signify a new series of psychological suspense thrillers. In this, the infamous Livia Claughton, aged 75, has just been released, after serving an extraordinary 27 years for killing her husband and his lover. She is still notorious, the object of a media frenzy that might be expected were Myra Hindley ever to be let out, but perhaps a bit over the top in view of Livia's relatively banal crime. Her release transforms the life of her granddaughter, Cass, a successful trader in the City, who has been recently dumped by her own (married) lover and who is appalled to learn of her ancestry. Cass is also stalked by the press, which has been egged on by Julia Gainsborough, the actress daughter of the woman Livia killed. Also in the mix is Bobbie, an 11-year-old arsonist, whom social services appear to believe is a suitable rehabilitation project for the elderly Livia, who teaches him to read. As well, a love interest for Cass appears early on, in the person of Christopher Bromyard, who stumbles across the threshold of Livia's secluded, if luxurious, rented house, suffering from pneumonia. He too is a power in the City. Although there are several worthy issues raised in this book, especially in regard to the treatment of women in prison and to the difficulties women face in male dominated occupations, this is primarily a romantic novel and the romantic elements overwhelm any more serious concerns. The problem with romantic suspense is that the more satisfactorily romantic it is, the less suspenseful it becomes. Readers who enjoy the sensory pleasures of romantic fiction -- the food, the clothes, the sexy yet kind men -- will like this book a lot. Others, who anticipated what the jacket copy calls "edgy British suspense," may feel slightly misled.
Reviewed by Yvonne Klein, June 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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