Head To Head [Mass Market Paperback]

Romance novelist Ladd (White Orchid) makes a successful venture into thriller territory with this first in a series featuring Missouri homicide detective Claire Morgan. Canton County, located on the "Lake Tahoe of the Ozarks," is a relaxing beat for the former Los Angeles cop until a soap opera star, vacationing at an exclusive resort for the rich and richer, is found at the bottom of the lake—naked, taped to a chair and sitting at a fully set dinner table. As she pursues the investigation to Louisiana and California and back, Morgan herself is pursued by her prime suspect: the resort's handsome, charming owner, Dr. Nicholas Black, whose romantic advances may hide a dangerous agenda. Though Ladd saddles Morgan with an all-purpose tragic past and occasional logic-deficient reasoning, she's a smart, strong character capable enough to avoid the woman-in-distress scenarios her genre colleagues so typically fall into. Despite a propensity for caustic rambling, her tough-girl voice keeps the story moving toward a satisfying denouement with plenty of suspense and surprises. (Mar.)
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"Chilling, compelling suspense...be prepared to lose sleep!"

After moving from Los Angeles to rural Missouri, homicide detective Claire Morgan has at last adjusted to the peaceful rhythms of country life. Until a grisly celebrity murder at an ultra-exclusive health resort shatters a quiet summer morning. One of Dr. Nicholas Black's high-profile clients, a beautiful young soap opera star, has been found dead. Back in L.A., Claire investigated the rich, famous, and the deadly, but she never expected the problems of the privileged to follow her to this sleepy small town, nor did she ever imagine crossing the line with her prime suspect. Immersed in the case, Claire finds herself drawn to the charismatic doctor, spending more and more time in his company, and in his bed. Now, to catch a killer, Claire will have to enter the darkest recesses of the human mind. But is Black leading her there to help her...or luring her ever deeper into a madman's grip? A second storyline is about Brat, a victim of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, who at the age of fourteen began a killing spree. How this relates to the main story is yet another mysterious strand in this riveting thriller.