The details…
- Title: Lady Hawthorne: The San Francisco Murder Series, Book 7
- Author: Alexi Venice
- Publisher: Palmer Publishing
- Publication date: December 26, 2022
- Available formats: ebook,
- Digital file size: 2156 KB
- Print length: 355 pages
- Genre: mystery/crime/espionage thriller
- Themes: biographical terrorism, mystical phenomena, Scottish folklore, women loving women, queer romance, friendship, infidelity, healing relationships, medical drama
- Tropes: love triangle, forced proximity, cops & docs
The blurb from the publisher…
Fallout from Dr. Jen Dawson’s sexcapade with Victoria Marshall results in a bloody gash to Tommy Vietti’s head. Dr. Jen and Amanda Hawthorne take Tommy to the hospital where his wound is repaired with staples, but their relationship remains frayed. While there, the three bruised friends are recruited to pick up the pieces from a bioterrorist attack. Dr. Jen volunteers to treat patients in the Emergency Room while Tommy and Amanda join forces with Agent Roxy MacNeil to investigate.
On their dangerous international mission, Amanda summons her inner strength to avoid falling into old habits as she learns earth-shattering revelations about her Scottish ancestry. Titillated by Amanda’s discovery, Roxy pulls Tommy and Amanda deeper into the tangled web of her manipulative, duplicitous world.
Dr. Jen works day and night treating victims of the mass attack, including someone once very special to her. She desperately misses her daughter, Kristin, but makes a new friend in Nurse Denni Russo.
Tommy feels like he’s walking on shifting sands as he transitions from a city detective to an international agent, relying on his gut instincts, drinking abilities, and shooting skills. Roxy, Tommy, and Amanda might be outgunned and outnumbered on foreign soil, but they’ll never be outsmarted as they attempt to save humanity.
Will Jen and Amanda’s promise to let bygones be bygones withstand distance, temptations, and life-threatening circumstances?
My thoughts…
If you love fast-paced thrillers that are served over lovely helpings of romance, then you’re going to eat this one up! Lady Hawthorne is one part Robin Cook and equal measures Vince Flynn that are whipped and folded into a spicy mix of Michael Palmer and Harry Potter. Sound interesting? Well, it is, and if you are a fan of The San Francisco Mystery Series, you’re going to want to pick up Lady Hawthorne and find out what kind of trouble Amanda, Jen and Tommy get themselves into this time. If you’ve never read any of Alexi Venice’s San Francisco Mysteries, then this is a good time to check it out.
As always, Venice keeps her readers turning pages into the night. The plot is one twisty rollercoaster ride filled with hair-pin turns and sudden drops. Venice proves once again that she knows how to craft a story filled with excitement and suspense—right to the very end. I couldn’t read it fast enough. And when I turned to the last page, I wanted more!
Amanda, Jen and Tommy are the backbone of this series, and readers are easily drawn to them. The character development is well done and consistent. If possible though, book seven finds them even more appealing. Venice avoids the awful “character stagnation” that befalls many characters in a multi-book series by rounding them out with a unique sense of humor and intelligence. Long-time San Francisco Mystery Series fans will be as charmed as ever as they impatiently whip through this latest book.
Venice is the queen of craft when it comes to secondary characters. Roxy MacNeil reenters the series after a bit of a hiatus. Her reappearance is nicely timed and well arced. Readers have a complicated relationship with her as she is the reason for Amanda and Jen’s relationship woes. However, one cannot resist her beguiling ways; she’s so well drawn. Venice knows how to use her too; Roxy provides the perfect amount of push in this plot, giving it interesting shape and dimension.
Final remarks…
I was completely absorbed in the narrative of Venice’s latest thriller. I’ve always enjoyed this series, but Venice has outdone herself with this one. The Scottish folklore, the espionage, the bioterrorism and medical mayhem—it’s all quite riveting. It makes for great storytelling and fast-paced reading. Thrill-seeking, mystery lovers are going to want this in their TBR pile.
Strengths…
- Fast-paced
- Thrilling
- Suspenseful
- Well-developed
- Entertaining
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A bit about the author…
Award-winning author Alexi Venice’s legal and crime thrillers with LGBTQ leads serve up deadly appetizers, spicy main dishes, and HEA desserts. Her bestselling legal thriller, Standby Counsel, A Monica Spade Novel, received the 2020 Lesfic Bard Award in Mystery and was named The Best Legal Thriller of 2021 by BestThrillers.com.
Venice is a member of International Thriller Writers, Golden Crown Literary Society, the Crime Writers’ Association, and Romance Writers of America.
Thirty-four years of practicing law informs Venice’s legal, medical, and crime fiction. Her heart, imagination, and life experience are the pesto on the pizza.
Venice and her husband love wrangling grandchildren and dogs at their Wisconsin home.
Connect with the author…
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