Monday With Kaye: "The Look of Love" by Mary Jane Clark (Reviewed by Kaye George)

This last Monday in March brings us a mystery read.  The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark is the second of a four book series that began with To Have and To Kill. If this one does not appeal make sure you check out the other suggestions Kaye George has made previous weeks. I am sure you will find at least one if not many more to consider.

The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark

Piper Donovan is making her second wedding cake, this time in L.A. Jillian Abernathy, daughter of a famous plastic surgeon and an equally famous model/actress, fiancée of Ben Dixon, M.D., and director of the Elysium Spa, saw the cake Piper designed in the last book and wants to pay Piper's airfare and put her up at the spa with all its amenities in exchange for a one-of-a-kind cake.

It sounds like just what Piper needs, time away from the handsome FBI agent on the East Coast while she figures out her feelings for him, plus the stay in the exclusive resort. There's a problem, though. Someone has just attacked Jillian's maid with acid in the face, an attack undoubtedly meant for Jillian. This doesn't stop Piper. Away she goes, right into the thick of things.

The story opens on New Year's Eve. The unusually short chapters, some only a page long, bounce between Jillian, her sister who is now a cloistered nun, Piper, the injured maid, an ambitious reporter hot of the trail of a big story at the spa, Jack (the FBI agent who would like to be more than friends), and others. The action races toward the wedding day, two weeks off, as things continue to go wrong--and then there's the murder. It seems more and more impossible that the rites will take place. Piper is also auditioning for an advertising spot while she's there. And missing Jack more than she thought she would.

This is a fast, light read that holds your interest throughout every page.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of Choke, for Suspense Magazine