"An entertaining and fast paced book"
Cindi Lynn was raised by her mother in San Francisco, after
her father deserted them to live with his mistress in
Louisiana. After the death of her mother, Cindi received a
letter from her father's mistress, Consuelo, asking her to
come to her home, Magnolia House, and stay while Consuelo
goes to try to free Cindi's father, Jim Lynn who is
imprisoned in Columbia. Cindi arrives at Magnolia House to find Consuela gone and
Dell Comeaux living in an apartment on the grounds and
coming and going freely from the house. Dell is an artist
who works for 'Mr. Jim' as a caretaker while he paints.
There is an immediate attraction between the two. Her ex-fiancé and her father's partner, Cliff Aymond
arrives with Rita. The woman claims to have been working
for Mr. Jim in Columbia and says that Mr. Jim meant to
bring her back to America to work for him. Rita stays on
with Cindi and works as a cook and housekeeper. Cliff seems
to want to renew their involvement, but Cindi, knowing now
what a slime ball he is, wants no part of that idea. Dell
soon overhears enough to know that Rita is involved with
Cliff who plans to run for governor of Louisiana and Rita
plans to be his First Lady. Cliff needs the treasure that
Consuela has hidden in the house to help finance his
campaign and Rita is there to find it. The house also seems to have a resident spirit called the
Loggy Branch Monster. The spirit is reportedly able to
appear in the form of either a beautiful woman called
Delia, or a black panther. A treasure, a mysterious fire, an encounter with the
panther... this is a fast paced book with a bit of just
about
everything, including romance and murder. The characters
are very well written and the descriptive powers of the
author are awesome. Ms. Lawrence keeps the reader on their
toes and involved from beginning to end and the ending has
some nice surprises, too. One of the most surprising things about this book is the
author herself. I had to take a second look at her bio,
because I couldn't believe that this lady was really the
author. She's a living inspiration to ALL want-to-be
writers and I hope she writes another hundred. Believe me,
she's one is a million and this book is a real keeper. Reviewed for PNR Reviews by Irene Marshall
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted February 20, 2003
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