Chase FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Claire Hayden has no idea that her world is about to be shattered. At the conclusion of her husband's fortieth birthday party, he is found murdered, his throat cut with a weapon that hasn't been used since World War II. He has no enemies. He has committed no crimes. He has no shady past. Or that is what Claire thinks." Claire's search for information leads her to the mysterious Ian Marshall, a stranger who first appeared in her life on the night of her husband's death; a stranger who appears to be involved. Someone has been killing this way for decades. Someone whose crimes go back to World War II. Someone who will do anything to make certain no one finds out. And Ian Marshall proves himself to be a dangerous man: dangerous to Claire's mind, heart, and emotions. As Claire and Ian team up to track down the killer, Ian makes a shocking revelation: The killer may be someone close to Claire - and Claire may be next.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
A wealthy San Francisco do-gooder finds herself enmeshed in a mystery dating back to WWII in this romantic suspense novel by New York Times bestseller Joyce (House of Dreams, etc.). Claire Hayden leads a privileged and pampered life rescuing stray animals and hosting charity events. But beneath the perfect facade, Claire's marriage is falling apart. In a last ditch effort to save their relationship, she throws her husband, David, a 40th birthday party. During the party, Claire meets Ian Marshall, one of her husband's associates, and senses some tension between the two. When the party is over, Claire goes in search of her husband and finds him outside, with his throat cut. The police quickly link David's death to another murder as both victims were killed with a thumb knife a weapon that hasn't been used since World War II. Claire tracks down the elusive Ian Marshall and after much prompting learns that David was blackmailing WWII spy Lionel Elgin and was planning to turn him over to Ian, a Holocaust research center investigator. Claire insists on joining Ian in his search for Elgin. The two travel to England to trace Elgin's roots and to speak with his remaining family. It soon becomes clear that Ian believes Claire's father, Jean-L on Ducasse, or Jean-L on's best friend, William Duke, to be Elgin. Claire refuses to believe his theory, but as she and Ian piece together Elgin's history and fall for one another in the process, Claire fears that she may have been raised by a killer. Joyce skillfully weaves together past and present to create an amazing story of intrigue, wartime passion and thrilling twists and turns. (July) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
In a change of pace from Joyce's usual pseudo-gothic fare (House of Dreams, 2001, etc.), heroine Claire Hayden goes from socialite to spy without breaking a nail. Claire doesn't know why or when she and David began to drift apart. Could it be her 80 hours a week of charity work? But the abandoned dogs and cats of San Francisco need her so much, and Claire just loves animals. As for the neglected neighbor children she invites over to play with the strays: What does David want her to do, tell them to go home? She's so miffed, she could ask for a divorce. No, no . . . it's David's 40th birthday, and she's planned a superspecial celebration. But the bastard's not interested! Claire is supermiffed now. Then she finds David with his throat cut from ear to ear and manages a pathetic sniffle or two for old times' sake. Who could have done such a thing? Enter British hottie Ian Marshall to pat Claire on the back and advise her that David had run afoul of Lionel Elgin, a treasonous Englishman left over from WWII. Elgin escaped the various traps set for him way back when but not before killing quite a few of the good guys first. Segue back in time to England and meet Rachel, a nice Jewish girl, who's in love with Eddy "Hawk" Marshall, a daring aviator from Brooklyn. Her stern papa forbids the union in no uncertain terms, but Rachel ignores him. Inexorably drawn into a complicated plot involving spies and counterspies, she does her heroic best to save her lover. Segue forward in time to Claire, who has just discovered that her father, an international art collector, had something to do with all of this. In fact, he may not even be her real father! Will Claire ever find out the secret of herparentage? And will those sinister men please, please stop following her around? A heaping helping of Joyce baloney.
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