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Blonde Betty reviews
The Illustrious Leader of the Intrepid BBs
3/27/2014
In some way or another, Allison Brennan’s romantic suspense and Lucy Kincaid series mass market paperbacks all connect back to a single family: the Kincaids. The twenty-two books that comprise this collection are all tied together by the idea of family, be it one of birth or your own making. These books are fun to read because you repeatedly get to catch up with favorite characters and see how they have moved on in their life. Similar to Facebook status updates of friends, you can tell all is well. There is a comfort to this approach for both readers and author.
With her first hard cover release, Notorious, Brennan takes a different track. More mystery than romantic suspense, the pace is different. In addition her heroine, Maxine Revere is not encumbered by family. These differences push both readers and author out of the comfort zone established in the early works. In addition to the medium, the story makes it clear from the start that Max and Notorious are different.
Maxine Revere has dedicated her life to investigating murders that the police have long since given up any hope of solving. A nationally renowned investigative reporter with her own TV show and a tough-as-nails reputation, Max tackles cold cases from across the country and every walk of life. But the one unsolved murder that still haunts her is a case from her own past.
When Max was a high school senior, one of her best friends was strangled and another, Kevin O’Neal, accused of the crime. To the disgrace of her wealthy family, Max stood by her friend, until she found out he lied about his alibi. Though his guilt was never proven, their relationship crumbled from the strain of too many secrets.
Now Max is home for Kevin’s funeral—after years of drug abuse, he committed suicide. She’s finally prepared to come to terms with the loss of his friendship, but she’s not prepared for Kevin’s sister to stubbornly insist that he didn’t kill himself. Or for an elderly couple to accost her at the airport, begging her to look into another murder at Max’s old high school. Max is more interested in the cold case at her alma mater than in digging around Kevin’s troubled life, but she agrees to do both. As Max uncovers dark secrets, she finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies that hit far too close to home. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that someone will do whatever it takes to make sure the truth stays buried.
Max is relentless and determined and she doesn’t always follow the rules. Her career as an investigative journalist gives her considerable latitude when it comes to investigating. She is able to use methods and procedures not necessarily available to law enforcement. She makes friends in law enforcement, to aid her investigations. Though she is somewhat of a loner, she finds that you cannot always shake family. Her birth family plays an integral role in the narrative as she tries to sort out the reality of the present and solve the mystery of the past.
Brennan uses a deft hand to weave the past and present together as the story moves forward. She easily proves the old adage that the past and present and intrinsically tied together. The ultimate murderer proved a surprise when the culprit was finally revealed. Though the mystery is the heart of the story, Max is a driving force and her character shapes much of the action. She has a presence much older than her defined 30-years of age. I was actually somewhat disappointed when her age was revealed as I had envisioned her to be a good ten years older than stated.
The death of her best friend in high school, and her best friend in college, shapes much of who Max is today. (The investigation into her college friend’s death is told in the short story Maximum Exposure.) Her reluctance to let people get close to her is reflective of the deaths of these two women at critical points in her life. Max’s family becomes intimately tied up in her investigation; not surprising as the present murder and the past murder both take place at an exclusive private school Max and her cousins attended. This involvement does provide a catalyst for Max to at least minimally reconcile with her blood family. How that reconciliation plays out will be interesting to see.
It will be interesting to see how Max evolves. Brennan obviously holds family in high regard and central to stories. I anticipate Max “building” her own family as the series progresses. She already has a variety of people in her life that she relies on, her assistant being the most protective of them. These people already treat her like family; it will be fun to see if she starts to allow others in now that she’s put to rest some of the ghosts of the past. I, for one, will certainly be along for the ride.