Death by Romance

Wealthy CEO, Gordon Taylor, is murdered a few months after his seventh wedding anniversary. While the nuptial year offers no immediate significance, his bereaved wife, Jessica, knows that her marriage to Gordon is designed to be short-lived—part of the arrangement in the ultra-guarded Romance, Ltd. partnership. Detective Ryan Patrick Hamlin, who handles the case, is at a complete loss with a growing list of possible suspects and no incriminating evidence. Five months later, Ryan receives his first tangible data. Although delighted with the find, Ryan’s sleuthing stirs up a flurry of convoluted events before he is able to pinpoint the real culprit.

Rising mystery writer Anne Kennison spins a unique twist to the concept of romance in her debut novel. Kennison’s third person narrative centers principally on Detective Hamlin, Jessica, and—to a lesser, but equally important, degree, Mavis Strong, Jessica’s so-called “partner in crime.” Surrounding her main players with a colorful foiled cast, Kennison provides her audience with reader “windows” into the lives of three very different individuals—all who have personal struggles, yet have distinct viewpoints on romance—amid a heinous crime investigation.

Ryan, a hard-boiled detective, has his own behind-the-scene issues, when his life goes awry after the love of his life dies and conflict erupts after he is left to raise his only son. Entering into magnificent wealth, Jessica’s lifestyle drastically changes when she marries Gordon—the man she’s not expected to love, but does anyway. And then there is Mavis, who is the mastermind behind the covert partnership—her solution to getting out of her fraught middle-class environs.

Dividing her plot into three sections, Kennison sets the stage for the crime scene and the over-five-month investigation before delving into past events that lead up to Romance, Ltd. and then fast-forwarding to the present. Her writing style is a wonderful blend of storytelling and relational interactions between characters, which is set within tightly formed dialogue. Kennison keeps her readers engaged by alternating character scenes and slowly, but deftly, developing her characters, while throwing a plethora of red herrings into the narrative mix.

Kudos to Kennison for scripting a fascinating and well-written read that is guaranteed to become a best seller!