This was a great story - the mystery and suspense were just gripping enough without being too horrifying, the characters were believable and sympathetic, and the romance - WOW! I LOVED the "dancing on the balcony" scene - might have my husband read that one! ( )

Kill and Tell
3.5 Stars

After receiving a package from her estranged father, Karen Whitlaw doesn't even give it a second glance. But when Dexter Whitlaw is murdered in New Orleans and Karen is plagued by a series of mysterious "accidents", she soon realizes that someone is desperate to get their hands on the package. With help from homicide detective, Marc Chastain, Karen must learn her father's secrets before she falls victim to a determined killer.

The suspense plot is good, but the romance falls flat mainly due to the judgmental hero.

Karen and Marc's relationship gets off on the wrong foot when he makes some rather ugly assumptions about her. Then, all of a sudden, he has an epiphany and realizes he has made a mistake, and she is the perfect woman to take as his next conquest. Please save me from this man's gigantic ego!

Unfortunately, Karen falls very easily for his possessive charm and protectiveness, and what little tension there is between them at the outset fizzles very quickly once they hop into bed. As is always the case with Linda Howard, the sex scenes are sizzling even if the emotional connection is lacking.

The mystery is much better with some intense and exciting moments even though the villain is revealed early on. There is some bumbling around on the part of the hired goons that defies common sense, but Karen is a strong heroine and there is, thankfully, no damsel in distress routine.

In sum, not one of Howard's better books but it is a quick and entertaining read nonetheless. ( )

Perfectly unremarkable. A pity, I've read other books by the same author that enjoyed a whole lot more. This one had too much instalove, and it was too cheesy at times, to make for an enjoyable read. ( )

Karen Whitlaw and her estranged father Dex, an ex-Viet Nam sniper determined to blackmail someone from his past. Karen, grieving the recent loss of her mother, travels to New Orleans at the behest of Detective Marc Chastain when informed of her father's death. What follows is Karen's reckoning with her ambiguous feelings about a father who deserted her as a child, as well as her journey into sensuality with Marc. Meanwhile, sinister forces from her father's past seek to destroy Karen and the book her father held over someone's head.

"Kill and Tell" was a very good mixture of action and romance. It kept you guessing how all the players were tied together. ( )

Barely remember this. Although I've lost my taste for Howard's books, I seem to recollect this one positively as a good mystery. ( )