Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 451

Smoke in Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz

A chilling prologue, the final minutes. Then we enter with yet another murder and embezzlement. Everything connects.

With the threat of implicating Leonora of the embezzlement by Thomas. Why wouldn't Leonora immediately call the police or FBI?

Leonora tells her very able 80 something grandmother about Thomas. Grams response was a, "Well, well." Leonora rebuttal was forget it gram. no matchmaking. Gram wanted her married but...

Wrench the dog. One ear permanently bent. "Wrench is a real sweetheart. Very non-confrontational. Probably a poodle in a former life." Leonora tells Thomas that management [of the cafe] it was hard to overlook a wolf coming through the front door.

Thomas and Leonora are becoming involved. Meeting the sexy Rhodes to bring out the worst in Thomas. He is jealous

They broke into Rhodes house, took samples of some mystery drug he pawns off on clients of the con he runs. Stress management with supplements. Okay... They also found a mirror he'd obviously stolen from the Manor of Mirrors. On with the plot...

Deke's wife had been killed. Thomas moved near Deke to help Deke get over the death. Deke become morose and lived like a hermit. He claimed his wife was murdered. Now Leonora reveals to Thomas that Meredith was her half sister and they both think she was murdered too. The yoga instructor Cassie is interested in Deke and the 4 of them put their heads together to try to solve the mystery. Suave Rhodes is a suspect. The cop Ed moons over the alcoholic professor's DD and Leonora Granny runs an online newspaper with her boyfriend in the nursing home as an advise to the lovelorn columnist. What a soap opera, huh? Actually it doesn't feel like that at all.

Cassie the yoga instructor remembers an elderly retired history department secretary from the college and the foursome descends upon her at her retirement village for information on yet another unsolved murder 30 years past.

The Walker brothers solve the mystery. It unfolds just like they surmised according to the computer screen. Ed Stovall, the cop, reads from in the suicide note. The story didn't have the surprises a mystery would have up until this moment. The surprise culprit you never suspected so far, but wait...

Herb and Gloria. Herb took that "little blue pill" whose effects don't last forever, he says. <evil wink> Sex all around, every one getting lucky *G* Quite frankly I was getting sick of all of those Viagara ads a while back. This months trend seems to be mortgage money or extra credit. Everyone jumping on the bandwagon with the item of the day.

Everything was finally solved then... oops not yet. The person you would've never suspected, never gave a second thought about, never noticed--drugged another victim...

I am not a mystery lover. Romance is my genre, plain and simple. The romances in this book saved it for me. The book, a bit long in the middle but perfect in the last 40 pages. Those pages for me flew. Don't know that this author is for me within this genre but not an unfavorable read.

I gave this to the DH to read because it was more of a mystery to me than a romance, he just finished it and his response was the mirror of mine, and this was a pun, sorry, of my response. The only difference was it was not enough mystery for him and too much romance. Oh, well! <shrug>

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This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
— Dorothy Parker

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 2418

Just got back from a weekend up at the lake (no, no swimming! It's not that warm---mid 70s and , though, so it was lovely.), and wanted to jot down a quick note before I .

It's been quite a while since I've read a romantic suspense---odd, since it's one of my favorite kinds of books to read. I fell into this one right away. It reminded me of Barbara Michaels' books, with the creepy house with all those mirrors, and I was hooked from there.

I'm not going to say much more now, because I want to be coherent, and it's hard to type when I'm so much I can't see.

More tomorrow.

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 2418

Re: Smoke in Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz

quote:

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Originally posted by alewis5162
Smoke in Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz

A chilling prologue, the final minutes. Then we enter with yet another murder and embezzlement. Everything connects.

---

I liked the prologue---I think that's what made me think of Barbara Michaels, and it set the tone for the book---made me predisposed to like it.

quote:

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With the threat of implicating Leonora of the embezzlement by Thomas. Why wouldn't Leonora immediately call the police or FBI?

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I think because she's honoring her friend's memory? Or maybe because even though she's innocent, the implication would cause trouble for her? Or possibly because she wanted to help find the killer anyway.

quote:

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Leonora tells her very able 80 something grandmother about Thomas. Grams response was a, "Well, well." Leonora rebuttal was forget it gram. no matchmaking. Gram wanted her married but...

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Gotta love those matchmaking grandmas!

quote:

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Wrench the dog. One ear permanently bent. "Wrench is a real sweetheart. Very non-confrontational. Probably a poodle in a former life." Leonora tells Thomas that management [of the cafe] it was hard to overlook a wolf coming through the front door.

---

I had to again at the dog being a poodle in a former life.

quote:

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Deke's wife had been killed. Thomas moved near Deke to help Deke get over the death. Deke become morose and lived like a hermit. He claimed his wife was murdered. Now Leonora reveals to Thomas that Meredith was her half sister and they both think she was murdered too. The yoga instructor Cassie is interested in Deke and the 4 of them put their heads together to try to solve the mystery. Suave Rhodes is a suspect. The cop Ed moons over the alcoholic professor's DD and Leonora Granny runs an online newspaper with her boyfriend in the nursing home as an advise to the lovelorn columnist. What a soap opera, huh? Actually it doesn't feel like that at all.

---

Now that you mention it, there is a lot going on here. Grandma's online newspaper, and Herb the columnist cracked me up.

quote:

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Cassie the yoga instructor remembers an elderly retired history department secretary from the college and the foursome descends upon her at her retirement village for information on yet another unsolved murder 30 years past.

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Yes, the department secretaries know everything & run the place. I liked that---my MIL was the microbiology department secretary at the university in Darmstadt (Technische Hochschule---aka the TH--pronounced Tay-Hah) before she retired, & I think she pretty much fit that bill, too.

quote:

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I am not a mystery lover. Romance is my genre, plain and simple. The romances in this book saved it for me. The book, a bit long in the middle but perfect in the last 40 pages. Those pages for me flew. Don't know that this author is for me within this genre but not an unfavorable read.

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I think it's a matter of taste, & what you're used to. Long before I read romance, I read mystery, and I read Barbara Michaels and Victoria Holt. Creepy stories, with a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, a lot of atmosphere, and that's what I felt here. I liked the hint of the at the end, where you weren't quite sure if it was really a ghost or just Leonora's subconscious.

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~*~Darla~*~
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Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 4

Hey, thanks for the interest in SMOKE IN MIRRORS! Readers who know my work well understand that I am writing a mix of mystery and suspense with a lot of family relationship stuff and some humor on the side. True, not everyone likes so much going on in a book. And, sadly, I must admit that not everyone responds well to my slightly warped sense of humor. But many readers appreciate both (a fact for which I am profoundly grateful!)

What it comes down to is that I can only write the kind of stories that I feel compelled to write and I certainly realize that not every reader will be equally compelled to read them. But that is the great thing about fiction, isn't it? It is a uniquely personal experience. Every reader brings something different to a story and every reader takes something different away.

Again, thanks for taking the time to comment on SMOKE IN MIRRORS.

Thanks,
Jayne Ann Krentz

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 452

Well, Hi JAK

I loved Smoke--all of it's many elements. It me. But I enjoy romantic suspense. What's up next?

Jill

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Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 4

My next hardcover, LIGHT IN SHADOW, will be in stores on Dec. 29. Another novel of romantic-suspense with a bit of a psychic twist. The heroine has recently escaped from a secret psychiatric asylum where she was committed against her will. The hero is a down-on-his-luck PI. She needs an private investigator; he needs a client. Guess what happens next?

Thanks for asking!
--Jayne

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 452

quote:

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Whay's up next?

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Never mind-----just so happens this very thing was brought up on Adwoff.
Light in Shadow. In January

Can't wait!

Jill

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 2418

and welcome, Jayne!
I loved the bits of humor in Smoke in Mirrors---they were just the right touch to lighten up the more suspenseful parts. And like I said, I liked the style of "a mix of mystery and suspense with a lot of family relationship stuff and some humor on the side". It reminds me of what I liked to read when I was "too sophisticated to read romance."

Anything else you'd like to tell us about Light in Shadow? We won't tell anyone else.

Oh, and as long as you're here.... We chatted about Harmony in the Book Chat Forum a while ago. If you wanted to check it out or comment, go here: Harmony. I plan on notifying authors when a book gets discussed in that forum--I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

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~*~Darla~*~
Stay tuned - I could say something brilliant at any moment

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 451

It is always a thrill to chat with the author of a book we are discussing, thanks for coming over to chat with us.

I did want you to know that I loved the way you wrote the characters within their relationships. I loved the romance part, it is just me, I am a total romance genre reader.

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..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)).· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ·´
((¸¸. ·´ .. ·´ Annie -:¦:-
:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- ´* -:¦:- ´*




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This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
— Dorothy Parker

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Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 4

I understand, believe me. We all have our own, very personal tastes when it comes to fiction. That is why no two people ever react to a story in exactly the same way.

I think a lot of writers get into the business of writing precisely because no one is giving them the stories they want. They end up creating stories for themselves and the next thing they know, it turns out that a lot of other people enjoy them, too. I know that's why I got into this wild and zany writing gig!

--Jayne

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 2418

I've heard a lot of authors say that---that they started writing because they couldn't find the story they wanted to read, and that writing what you want to read is the best way to ensure that others want to read it too.

So...following the logic here... if I were to write a book, it would be a gothic paranormal with h/h who've known each other a long time, and one would be a vampire & the other would be in the military, and they'd travel back in time, and there'd be wizards, and adventure, and a really convoluted mystery..... and it would either be a huge mess, or 2000 pages long! I'm beginning to see why you write several different sub-genres.

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Stay tuned - I could say something brilliant at any moment

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