Spunky Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to her lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was located in his cousin’s basement. It doesn’t take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star’s roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too—because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.
This is the first book I've read by Lauren Carr and I really enjoyed it. It is the first in the Cameron Gates/Joshua Thornton (Lovers in Crime) series and the third one to feature Joshua ... I'd like to go back and read the first two with Joshua.
Cameron is a cop and Joshua is a prosecuting attorney. Joshua is a widower with five children (just teenager Donny is living at home) and a dog named Admiral and Cameron is a widow with a big cat that looks like a skunk named Irving.
This book begins with the discovery of the body a famous porn star named Cherry Pickens in the freezer in the basement of a recently deceased lawyer whose house blows up while it was being cleaned up for an estate sale. Cherry disappeared from Hollywood in the summer of 1985 and was really a local girl named Cheryl Smith.
What a start, eh?!
Cameron and Joshua start investigating the murder and it leads them back to the unsolved murder of a sweet girl named Angie Sullivan in 1977. No one is really sad to discover that Cheryl is dead because everyone assumed she killed Angie ... but did she? And if she didn't, who did?
There are lots of characters ... don't let that scare you because there is a summary of who everyone is at the beginning of the book if you need it (I didn't).
I enjoyed the writing style and the characters. It was interesting and fast paced. Just when I thought I had it figured out, a twist would come along and I'd be wrong ... or was I?
One thing I did find annoying was Irving, Cameron's cat. I love kitties but I found it hard to believe that she would take this cat almost everywhere she went. What cop would take a cat to their office or a crime scene? Plus he's very domineering and isn't a fan of Joshua's and lets him know it.
3 comments:
Hello, Teena in Toronto! I'm glad you enjoyed Dead on Ice and the Lovers in Crime, even if Irving annoyed you, like he does Josh, which adds to the conflict between him and Cameron. Makes things interesting.
You are correct that Cameron does take Irving almost everywhere because of his separation anxiety. However, if she knows she is on her way to a crime scene, she leaves him behind. If she happens onto a crime scene, she leaves Irving in the car. You're right in knowing that a detective would not take their pet to a crime scene because they would contaminate it with hair and dander.
Thank you so much again for reviewing and enjoying Dead on Ice. I appreciate it so much.
Best,
Lauren
Thanks for stopping by, Lauren :)
Thank you, Teena, for inviting me to your site in Toronto!
Best,
Lauren
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