Kelly Lange

Kelly Lange has been a well-known news reporter in the Los Angeles area, radio show host and actress. When I found two books with her name as the author I had to check them out. Glad I did! Lange has set her Maxi Poole character in a world she knows well – news casting.

The book opens at the funeral of Jack Nathanson, Maxi’s ex-husband. Laid out in a clear, lucite coffin, it is a hard site to tear your eyes from. Maxi is there as an ex and also as a reporter. Her boss figures she will be able to get some good story info due to her relationship to Nathanson.
Being Nathanson was an Oscar winner, he was murdered and the killer is yet to be found makes this some top news! Then there is a long list of suspects to choose from due to Nathanson’s ego and treatment of the people around him.

Things get really nasty when dead bodies start turning up: bodies who were closely involved with Nathanson and his past. Also some people from his past are showing up and they aren’t in the best of mental health.

Maxie uses her connections to try and solve the case, but also finds she is a target of the killer.

The story runs at a good pace with quite a bit of action. I have the second book of the series on my TBR shelf, so it will be interesting to see if it is a good as this one. Previous reviews seem to say so…… (mere)

SUMMARY: The third outing of Lange's intrepid and winning reporter sleuth finds anchorwoman Maxi Poole being inexplicably reassigned to the graveyard shift of news, the death knell of a television journalist. Her boss's reasons for doing so are mysterious and aggravating and Maxi finds herself wondering if her career in Los Angeles is essentially over. Before lapsing into a pit of despair, she's distracted by the kidnapping of the son of a neighbor's housekeeper, the murder of a local politician's obnoxious wife, and the sexy new cameraman to whom she's been assigned.

WHAT YOU'LL LIKE: Lange's talent for fiction never has been exhibited so well than in this third installment of the series. Maxi continues to be an absolutely charming and charismatic heroine with extreme rooting value: smart, capable, cunning and courageous, yet still vulnerable and emotionally accessible. The behind-the-scenes looks at television reporting are interesting without being intrusive. Myriad tendrils of plot weave together in a seamless fashion; witty dialogue, intelligent development and characterization, and a genuinely surprising resolution combine to produce a thoroughly engrossing and admirable addition to one's library.

WHAT YOU WON'T: Minor instances of groaning at the actions of certain characters and the frustration of trying to figure out the end before reaching it, but nothing which would impede recommending this to any fan of the genre.

BOTTOM LINE: Reestablishes Lange as an author to watch (and compulsively read) and Maxi Poole as one of the best sleuths in a genre bogged down with lesser counterparts. Anxiously awaiting the next installment!… (mere)