When Beth and her sister Kate were young they experienced a horror event that shaped their lives and took their mother from them. At the same time a painting called Moonlight was taken. The detective on that case was Conor Reid. Since then he has kept an eye on the two women. Beth went into the art world, running a gallery and raising a daughter with her husband Pete. Kate retreated into herself. Her one great solace was flying. As a pilot she was never happier than in the air. When he same painting goes missing again after being found and Beth is found strangled, Detective Reid is again on the case. He has a strong suspect for the murder firmly in his sights but is he right? Is he letting his own feelings dictate to him because the suspect has a watertight alibi, even though he does have a strong motive to want Beth dead. The more Conor digs into the case the more questions both he and Kate have. Who could have wanted Beth dead? And was significance does the Moonlight painting have?
Years ago, mostly before I was on Goodreads I read and enjoyed a number of books by this author. She was ago to author. So when I found a new Luanne Rice book in the library I was excited even though it appeared to be a different genre that what I remembered of her earlier books. However I was happy to give it a go and it started okay enough to get me in. Sadly, despite a few red herrings about the murderer, after a while it started to go downhill. There was a lot of repetition and unnecessary detail. But I was interested enough to want to keep reading to find out who the murderer was.
Most of the story was told from Kate or Conor’s point of view but when another voice turned up late in the book, my rating went down further. Add to that the ending with a culprit and motivation that made no sense at all. So, what started out promising ended up being a real fizzer as far as I was concerned. But others obviously don’t agree, since Lee Child, wrote on the cover,’ Lovely, lyrical and lethal.’ Not the words I would use. Overwritten, implausible and okay would be more my take. Think I was better off with this author’s earlier novels. Others may really like it but I was left disappointed.