To Die For by Linda Howard

Title: To Die For

Author: Linda Howard

Genre: Mystery

Summary: A local gym owner becomes the target of the killer who murdered a member who has too many enemies.

The Take-Away: Between the cover and the backcover copy, I expected something like Tami Hoag or Patricia Cromwell. What I got was closer to Janet Evanovich but with plot holes that had been patched with easy solutions.

The story was easy to read, the dialogue between love interests showed that they were indeed love interests, but too many times the plot was contrived. For instance, Blair Mallory, the owner of the gym, has a past relationship with the lead investigator, Wyatt Bloodsworth. They went on two dates. Two years ago. Yet, Blair continues to resent him for not calling her back. Once I got over my skepticism that anyone would feel that way after two dates two years later, the dialogue showed that there was the typical attraction often found in romance books.

One review said "One can only hope Linda Howard hasn't permanently departed from her usually engrossing mysteries for something this fluffy, frivolous, and flawed. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine" It wasn't enough to convince me that I should read another.

Recommendation: Pass, unless you really like light weight murder mysteries with one too many easy solutions.