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New-to-me authors and series are always fun to try, so I looked forward to Deadly Caress, which had the added attraction of being set in New York in 1902, a different and interesting setting. Brenda Joyce creates a world that’s easy to get sucked into, but my enthusiasm waned considerably because of problems with the author’s characterization and writing style.
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Francesca Cahill is a sleuth in New York City. Actually, according to her cards, she’s a Crime Solver Extraordinaire. She teams up with police commissioner and former almost-lover-Rick Bragg to solve the latest murder to hit New York City. Someone killed the mistress of Francesca’s brother Evan not long after ransacking his fiancée’s art studio. Because Evan may be in trouble, and it’s another chance to work with Rick, Francesca is on the case.
My biggest problem with this book was its stilted, formal writing style. It’s very awkward in dialogue to have characters speak without using contractions. I know it establishes a sense of formality and class for the characters, but it makes reading their dialogue a painful exercise.
Francesca herself is an off-putting character. She sneaks out of her parent’s house as soon as she receives notice of the murder and hares off to the crime scene. She’s also reckless and tends to wander into places that she probably shouldn’t. From reading other AAR reviews of this series, it’s obviously not a new character trait. Sigh. Francesca has an annoying habit of continually referring to Bragg by both his first and last names – as well as thinking he’s completely perfect. By page 82 I was already sick of hearing about how perfect he was. There’s a difference between love and hero worship. She also “cried” out her dialogue often enough that I started to underline the incidences (hers and other characters’) and wondered if she was always screaming. Francesca isn’t totally bothersome though, her caring and devotion to the people she loves are admirable, and her determination to solve the crime was unfailing.
The perfect Rick Bragg loves Francesca but happens to be married. His wife, Leigh Anne, left him for four years and apparently took many lovers in that time, but her return to town ends Rick and Francesca’s “relationship,” such as it is. Rick’s too uptight to be likable and is more than a little tormented. He beats himself up for falling for Francesca and for still being attracted to his faithless wife. He hates staying away from Francesca because he loves her, and he has to watch his half-brother, Calder Hart, go after her. Rick and Calder don’t get along for many reasons, not the least of which is that Rick is upstanding and perfect, while Calder is edgy, with a slightly shady reputation.
Calder, on the other hand, is completely likable. I would even go so far as to say he’s quite yummy. Definitely a bad boy, his passion for Francesca is obvious. Calder’s willingness to do absolutely anything for her, including giving her $50,000 for her brother’s gambling debts, makes readers wonder why she doesn’t accept his marriage proposal and be done with it. The attraction between Calder and Francesca smolders, and it’s clear he’s the one for her.
There are so many other characters that it’s a bit difficult to keep them all straight. There’s Leigh Anne, the evil slut wife, or so we’re told. She seems pretty straightforward to this reader, and she definitely wants her husband back. Then there’s Francesca’s sister Connie, who I like better than Francesca; the brother, Evan; and Maggie Kennedy, the seamstress who has a crush on him.
Whew. I’m exhausted already and I haven’t even gotten to the mystery. The murder victim was found in a neighbor’s house, and Rick and Francesca spend their time looking for the just-so-happens-to-be missing neighbor and the murderer. Francesca is particularly invested in finding a solution because of her brother’s connection.
Despite all the problems I had with the characters, I was drawn into this historical soap opera. I might read the next one, but I’ll get it used.
Grade: C
Book Type: Historical Mystery
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 27/05/03
Publication Date: 2003
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.