A killer targets a peaceful lakeside community, and one family is changed forever by secrets and lies.
Evening Lake is idyllic, peaceful, with a close-knit community of families who have been coming to this western Massachusetts getaway for decades. Then newcomer Lacey Havnel and her daughter Bea move in. They are nothing like the well-heeled families who populate Evening Lake. Mysterious and rough around the edges, they keep to themselves.
Detective Harry Jordan sees his lake home as a respite from solving crimes on the streets of Boston. The Osborne family views their cottage as a way to avoid the distractions of life—especially for Wally Osborne, a famous horror writer who seems to need the peace and quiet more than anyone.
One night, Harry is walking alongside the lake when the night is rocked by an explosion: the Havnel house is engulfed in a conflagration, and young Bea is seen fleeing, hair on fire, and plunging into the lake. She survives, but her mother does not, and Harry is pulled into the investigation.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the community, Diz Osborne, the youngest Osborne son, carries a weighty secret about who else he saw rowing on the lake that night. When it’s discovered that Lacey died not from the explosion but from a knife wound, it’s soon clear that a murderer is on the loose. And this murderer is poised to strike again and again.
Told with Elizabeth Adler’s inimitable style, illuminating descriptions, and intricate family dynamics, Last to Know is the definition of a page-turner.
“Adler’s latest novel will keep readers guessing about a serial killer’s motivation right to the end. This fast-paced mystery is filled with intriguing suspects and intensely portrayed family dynamics. Harry is a fascinating lead character who manages to be larger-than-life, yet has down-to-earth vulnerabilities, and he owns a dog that will steal readers’ hearts.”—RT Book Reviews (4 stars)
Fen Dexter’s quiet life on the idyllic California coast is interrupted one stormy night when a blood-covered man shows up on her doorstep claiming to have had a car accident. He tells her that he is on his way to San Francisco to help the police solve the murder of his fiancée. Unable to make it to the hospital because of the storm, he spends the night at Fen’s, and the attraction between them is obvious. The next morning he heads to the hospital where Fen’s niece, Vivi, is an ER doctor. Vivi is treating the most recent target of a serial killer whose signature move is to leave a note saying “Please Don’t Tell” taped across his victims’ mouths. When Fen’s mysterious stranger comes to Vivi to have his wounds stitched, she agrees to set him up to talk with the police about his fiancée.
Who is this man, really? What does he want with Fen and her family? And will they live long enough to uncover the truth? Told with Elizabeth Adler’s knack for terrific female characters and breathtaking twists, Please Don't Tell will keep you guessing, right up to the end.
“[A] page turner…[with a] white-knuckle climax.”—Publishers Weekly
Caroline Evans is a single mom trying to raise her fifteen-year-old daughter, Issy, as best she can. Her ex-husband, James, was a philandering charmer—and a wealthy one at that. Their life had been lavish, but Caroline couldn’t put up with his cheating and left him, taking Issy with her. And Issy has never forgiven her. Now, they live in the countryside outside London, where Caroline has built a modestly successful catering business, and Issy is now at an all-girls boarding school. Things are beginning to feel normal. But when James mysteriously appears on her doorstep one night—and then vanishes soon after—Caroline feels her world being turned upside down once again. Delving into a world of high-stakes finance she knows little about, Caroline and Issy must find a wary peace … and solve a murder. With trademark twists and turns and memorable characters, Elizabeth Adler delivers another summer getaway novel that will leave you gasping for more.
“Bestseller Adler...smoothly blends suspense and romance in this tale of betrayal and murder.”--Publishers Weekly
From the Hollywood Hills to the streets of Barcelona, from lush vineyards and wineries to the most exclusive homes in Europe, let Elizabeth Adler take you on a journey with a story that will hold you spellbound. Bibi Fortunata was the hottest ticket in town: singer, actress, and celebrity. Two years ago she was arrested on suspicion of murdering her lover and his new mistress, who was also Bibi’s best friend. Bibi was front-page news in a way her publicists had never dreamed of. But the police were never able to prove anything and she was set free, with the cloud of suspicion and murder still hanging over her. Bibi left for Barcelona where she quite simply disappeared. But when Bibi’s daughter comes to private investigators Mac Reilly and Sunny Alvarez for help, they can’t resist the temptation to solve this mystery once and for all. Who really killed Bibi’s lover? Who would want to frame Bibi? And who is beckoning them from Barcelona? Filled with Adler’s trademark lush descriptions, twisty plots, and decadent luxury, From Barcelona, with Love will transport you.
“In a few short pages, Adler uses beach chic, summer breezes, lots of champagne, and the passionate gaze that drew her most famous couple together to create a climactic scene full of promise.”--Bookreporter.com
Sunny Alvarez and Mac Reilly always seem to find trouble in the south of France. This time, all the trouble began in Monte Carlo. Sunny's relationship with Mac is in jeopardy and Monte Carlo beckons. Soon Sunny is pulled into a web of intrigue involving a series of robberies of high-end jewelry stores. Then there's her wanna-be-new-friend, who turns out to be a sociopath, involved in the sale of sex and in blackmail. Plus there's Sunny's old friend, movie star Allie Ray, who owns a vineyard in France and who comes to help sort Sunny out, while at the same time sorting out the life and appearance of her old friend, Pru Holster, with a makeover that not only changes her dowdy overweight appearance, but changes Pru into an amateur detective. If Sunny doesn't untangle this plot, she might end up an unwitting accomplice to theft, blackmail and even murder. When Mac shows up, he's ready to do anything to get Sunny back, not the least of which is to solve the crimes and save her life.
A beautiful Jane Doe with no memory of who she is or how she got to the bottom of a treacherous ravine; and a psychiatrist who joins her on her search for her identity. Dr. Phyl Forster was intrigued by the lovely woman who had been recovered from a San Francisco hillside and taken to the hospital where Forster was a resident psychiatrist. When Jane Doe regained consciousness, Dr. Phyl was at her side. It was then she realized that the patient had lost all memory of who she was or why she was in a hospital. Was it an accident, or was she, as Detective Franco Mahoney was beginning to suspect, the victim of attempted murder? In an attempt to reconstruct her past, patient and doctor travel back in time across continents to Hawaii, Paris, and the South of France. It is a long and circuitous journey - one that leads to mortal danger and thrilling romance.
Five international vacationers, strangers to each other, misfits running from their daily lives, are brought together at the same small seaside Hotel of Dreams by a rental scam, an international art heist, passion, murder, and a haunting. It had seemed like the perfect getaway for Malibu’s famous TV private investigator, Mac Reilly and his girlfriend/partner, Sunny Alvarez, along with his three-legged, one-eyed rescue dog Pirate, and her snippy three-pound fiend on four paws, the chihuahua, Tesoro. But now they find themselves having to sort out the misfits’ lives, including two lonely children on the trail of the mystery, solve crime, and a murder, all against the sunny, glamorous backdrop of St. Tropez.
“Like her previous Mac Reilly mystery, One of Those Malibu Nights, Adler’s latest is filled with colorful characters and spicy skulduggery.”--Booklist
Mac Reilly is a PI with a penchant for lost causes. One night in Malibu, he comes to the rescue of a distraught woman holding a gun in the doorway of a fabulous beach house. When the woman disappears and the gun shows up in his car, Mac is pulled into a web of deception and lies. His quest to find her takes him from southern California to the beaches of Mexico to the streets of Rome and the countryside of France. All the while, one step behind an elusive murderer, and one step ahead of an actress who wants nothing more than to get lost.
When an English tycoon dies mysteriously, he leaves a note naming six people who might have wanted him dead. Daisy Kean and PI Harry Montana team up to take the suspects—and also six red herrings—on a Mediterranean cruise, culminating at his beautiful villa on Capri, where his will is to be read and the killer unmasked. With the beautiful seaside settings plus the beginnings of a romance between loner Montana and wary Daisy, passions flare and the mystery deepens. And in the end, the unexpected twists are just the beginning.
“A mystery that travels in luxury.”--New York Daily News
Four mysterious words prompt antiques dealer Precious Rafferty to embark on a quest across Europe to uncover their meaning. Preshy, at age thirty-eight, loves her American-in-Paris life, but thinks that she’ll never be swept off her feet—until she meets Bennett James. As their whirlwind courtship progresses, though, she realizes that there is much about his business life in Shanghai she doesn’t know. Then she receives an urgent message from Lily Song, a cousin she’s never met. Lily lives in Shanghai and knows the antiques underworld there—and she has a secret important enough to draw her to Venice to meet Preshy for the first time, face-to-face. In Venice, Preshy will have to weave through a maze of betrayers to discover who she can trust with her heart—and with her life.
“Adler remains as adept as ever at making her various locales come to life and doesn’t disappoint in keeping the mystery…swirling.”--Publishers Weekly
Elizabeth Adler is a master at depicting lush scenery, gourmet food, and the joys of travel. Here she tells the story of Lamour Harrington, a recent widow. She's immersed herself in landscape architecture, but even creating beautiful outdoor "rooms" can't bring back her happiness. When she's faced with a devastating truth about the husband she adored, Lamour returns to the house on the Amalfi coast where she'd lived with her father during the happiest years of her childhood. There, she finds dangerous secrets, breathtaking beauty, two mysterious and compelling men, and the courage to live life to the fullest.
"Adler's colorful descriptions of Italy are as enticing as the story. Romance and mystery fill this magnetic novel, perfect escapist fare."--RT Book Reviews
Gemma Jericho is an overworked New York doctor with a handful of a teenaged daughter and a meddlesome mother. So when her mother receives a letter of a mysterious inheritance in Tuscany, Gemma welcomes the change, and the three leave for Italy. She hopes that a change of scenery will solve her problems with her daughter and her mother. Then as cultures clash, gossip soars, and intrigue unfolds, Gemma is caught up in the most disturbing-and delicious-trouble she's ever had.
