Product Description

Thea Kozak is introduced to Julie Bass, a sweet young widow whose husband died in a horrific accident at a local race track. Thea swears that this time she won't get involved. But when the accident turns out to be murder and Julie is arrested as the prime suspect, Thea is sucked into the search to find the killer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1720535 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com Review
It's hard not to like Thea Kozak, the smart and spunky private detective who first took flight with the solid Chosen for Death and then went ballistic with Death in a Funhouse Mirror. By now, Thea's sharp eye, even sharper tongue, and deadly aim have become part of the mystery landscape. This third adventure--set in the nasty world of auto racing--only reinforces that status.

From Publishers Weekly
Thea Kozak, an educational consultant and amateur sleuth near Boston, returns in this humdrum third outing (after Chosen for Death and Death in a Funhouse Mirror) to investigate a suspicious death. Thea's overbearing mother introduces her to Julie Bass, whose controlling, philandering husband, Calvin, has just died in a race-car crash. Thea, whose own husband died in an automobile accident, is sympathetic and agrees to help when the police, having determined that Calvin's car was tampered with, arrest Julie on suspicion of murder. Thea quickly finds that the widow is not as innocent or helpless as she seems, and has had an affair with local doctor, Tom Durren. Thea switches her attentions from her hunky boyfriend, state trooper Andre Lemieux, to her job, and to dealing with the unpleasant characters connected to the case, especially Julie's violent redneck brother Duncan. Since the unsavory Calvin had lots of enemies, the list of suspects is long, and following it leads Thea into a life-threatening roadside confrontation with the killer. While Thea is likable, supporting cast members such as Andre and Duncan, are flat stereotypes. Despite Flora's tight pacing, the finale is disappointingly convenient.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Visiting her folks for Easter, series star Thea Kozak, last seen in Death in a Funhouse Mirror (Forge: Tor, 1995), meets Julie, a distraught young widow whose husband died suddenly in a fiery wreck. Accident turns into murder, however, and the police arrest Julie. Little of what the fragile-seeming, sweet-talking woman tells Thea survives under investigation: Thea ends up threatened, abused, and nearly killed before events sort themselves out with the assistance of her detective boyfriend. Animated prose, steady action, humor, and a delightful heroine combine to make this a solid work.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Love the heroine, love the background. Story line okay.
I like Thea Kozak. Her work fascinates me, her love life intrigues me, her mother isn't perfect, which helps to make her real. I think the story line gets a bit violent. But my appreciation of the background will keep me reading Kate Flora's books.

I wanted to throw it out the window.....
What started off as an intriguing, fast-paced whodunit with a likeable protagonist in Thea Kozak soon began to test my patience. Thea is more victim than heroine, getting beat up, shot, and virtually murdered more times than any normal human being could possibly endure without lapsing into a coma. And still she lets her mother guilt-trip her into taking on the falsely accused's burden of proving her innocence. Perhaps it would be a little bit more believable if she were a actual private eye, like Kinsey Milhone, a cop, or a reporter. Instead, she's an educational consultant, an original occupation for a solver of mysteries, but where's the drama in that? At the very least, if she's going to be getting herself half-killed on the side, she should take a self-defense class. The way she chooses to defend herself against one attacker, for example, is to throw a ceramic cat at him - and miss. As for the mystery itself? I solved it way before she did, and I didn't get hurt in the process. I still read it to the end to find out how the killer is brought to justice, and, oh well, we don't get to see that part. The way the whole affair is wrapped up had me gaping in disbelief, the entire final chapter is a little too tidy and cliched. Very disappointing.

Educational consultant Thea Kozak investigates a homicide

> This is the 3rd in the series featuring Thea Kozak, a New England educational consultant, as amateur sleuth. This time around she's been conscripted by her own mother to help a woman with 2 small children who is being blamed by the authorities for her husband's murder.
> Thea gets pretty banged up in this adventure, perhaps too often for credibility. I also found the motive for murder and the murderer a bit incredible. Still, who reads a mystery for its universality and theme? This is a good -- not a great, but a good -- read; and I look forward to catching up with Thea in her first 2 books which I have no as yet read.