Nora McFarland's Lilly gets the picture and solves murder
I missed the first installment in this trilogy about Lilly Hawkins, the TV photographer who also happens to solve murder mysteries. The writing is EXCELLENT, and I do not toss that compliment around lightly.
The plot of Hot, Shot, and Bothered centers around two events: one is the wildfire that threatens an upscale subdivision of Elizabeth Lake (in the Bakersfield, California area), and the other is the discovery of the body of Jessica Egan, a young woman who has devoted years to the cause of conservation of the environment.
Lilly is seemingly outraged less by the fact of Jessica's death than by the slander that accompanies it. Jessica is described as a party girl who ran with the wrong drugging-and-drinking crowd since she was a teenager, and unfortunately drank too much before getting into a small boat the night she died.
But Lilly knows a lot more about Jessica's past and about her true character Lilly recognizes the description of Jessica as completely contradictory to the girl she knew in high school. How does a bit of a goody-goody slide all the way over to hopeless lush? Not bloody likely, is the answer to that.
Lilly also has the good fortune to be one of only two photographers on the right side of a breaking story about the fire and a visit from the governor. She interviews the brother of the victim, who happens to be one of the firefighters on the line. She manages to alert her news partner Rod to get over there before the roads are closed. And she even latches onto the key bit of evidence in the back yard (literally! in the back yard!) of the victim that unravels the whole sad story.
EXCELLENT lifelike characters, EXCELLENT seamless writing, good use of humor, and realistic and convincing detail about the news biz. Four stars. I really like this series and this author and will try to alert others to read her.
I missed the first installment in this trilogy about Lilly Hawkins, the TV photographer who also happens to solve murder mysteries. The writing is EXCELLENT, and I do not toss that compliment around lightly.
The plot of Hot, Shot, and Bothered centers around two events: one is the wildfire that threatens an upscale subdivision of Elizabeth Lake (in the Bakersfield, California area), and the other is the discovery of the body of Jessica Egan, a young woman who has devoted years to the cause of conservation of the environment.
Lilly is seemingly outraged less by the fact of Jessica's death than by the slander that accompanies it. Jessica is described as a party girl who ran with the wrong drugging-and-drinking crowd since she was a teenager, and unfortunately drank too much before getting into a small boat the night she died.
But Lilly knows a lot more about Jessica's past and about her true character Lilly recognizes the description of Jessica as completely contradictory to the girl she knew in high school. How does a bit of a goody-goody slide all the way over to hopeless lush? Not bloody likely, is the answer to that.
Lilly also has the good fortune to be one of only two photographers on the right side of a breaking story about the fire and a visit from the governor. She interviews the brother of the victim, who happens to be one of the firefighters on the line. She manages to alert her news partner Rod to get over there before the roads are closed. And she even latches onto the key bit of evidence in the back yard (literally! in the back yard!) of the victim that unravels the whole sad story.
EXCELLENT lifelike characters, EXCELLENT seamless writing, good use of humor, and realistic and convincing detail about the news biz. Four stars. I really like this series and this author and will try to alert others to read her.
