Happy to get away from her problems in the USA, Claire McIntyre jumps at the chance to move to Paris to live with her new boyfriend, Marc Bonnard. But Paris isn't all that she thought it would be. Claire finds the people in Paris are cold to an American who doesn't speak the language. Marc manipulates her into being the woman he wants her to be. And, Marc's nine-year-old daughter Nicole just ignores her. Claire finds that she is isolated in the beautiful city...a city where someone is murdering old women. The police are baffled. A killer they are calling "The Grandmother Murderer" has struck several times. He always strikes on rainy days and leaves the old women's bodies posed. As the police investigate another murder, Claire believes she may have some knowledge of who is behind it.
I always jump at the chance to read a book by Anne Stuart. She doesn't write the same story over and over like a few authors I've read. Well, this story was a big "miss" for me. It was billed as a romance, but it wasn't. This is a suspense thriller with a tiny bit of romance thrown in. The heroine took a while to wise up to what was going on with her boyfriend. Marc worked on the road with a troop of mimes. He would leave for weeks at a time, calling to check on her often. It took Claire several weeks to decide she liked when he was away better than when he was home. Yet, she still stuck around. I think she thought she deserved him after her last boyfriend was involved in a hit and run and she never reported him. Yep, she can pick'em. Claire meets American writer Tom Parkhurst who is currently living in France. He befriends her, but his character is never really developed.
The suspense portions of the book are what kept me reading. I kept wondering how the cops would catch our serial killer. Claire's TSTL behavior nearly made me give up. The Paris Police, with the exception of the Chief Inspector who is in charge of the murder investigation, couldn't find the killer if he marched right into the police station and confessed. The only one with brains was nine-year-old Nicole. She should have been leading the case. My rating: 1.5 Stars
I always jump at the chance to read a book by Anne Stuart. She doesn't write the same story over and over like a few authors I've read. Well, this story was a big "miss" for me. It was billed as a romance, but it wasn't. This is a suspense thriller with a tiny bit of romance thrown in. The heroine took a while to wise up to what was going on with her boyfriend. Marc worked on the road with a troop of mimes. He would leave for weeks at a time, calling to check on her often. It took Claire several weeks to decide she liked when he was away better than when he was home. Yet, she still stuck around. I think she thought she deserved him after her last boyfriend was involved in a hit and run and she never reported him. Yep, she can pick'em. Claire meets American writer Tom Parkhurst who is currently living in France. He befriends her, but his character is never really developed.
The suspense portions of the book are what kept me reading. I kept wondering how the cops would catch our serial killer. Claire's TSTL behavior nearly made me give up. The Paris Police, with the exception of the Chief Inspector who is in charge of the murder investigation, couldn't find the killer if he marched right into the police station and confessed. The only one with brains was nine-year-old Nicole. She should have been leading the case. My rating: 1.5 Stars
