Fatal Liaison / Vicki Tyley

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Thriller

Approximate word count: 70-75,000

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

With her first novel, the mystery thriller Thin Blood, Vicki Tyley became one of only two independent authors to have a book on Amazon’s list of the top 100 selling Kindle books of 2010. Her second book, also released in 2010, is Sleight Malice. She followed this with Brittle Shadows early this year, which was also the first book reviewed on this blog. Although a native of New Zealand, Tyley and her husband have lived in Australia since the early ‘80s.

Description:

Megan Brighton joins a dating service, Dinner for Twelve, at the insistence of her best friend, Brenda. Greg Jenkins does the same because he thinks the company or one of its clients holds the key to finding his sister, who has disappeared. When Brenda disappears, Megan and Greg join forces.

Appraisal:

I’ve read all of Vicki Tyley’s books, and all have several qualities in common. All are thrillers or mysteries with multiple suspects or potential resolutions. I’ve always been convinced each of the primary suspects was guilty at some point, yet the ending still catches me off guard. Tyley’s ability to plot a story is the envy of many of her peers. Fatal Liaison keeps this streak alive.

I thought the premise of the story, that someone is targeting women using the dating service, was clever and unique. The service is one of those that brings many people together in a bar or restaurant to mingle and, potentially, follow up by actually dating. The large number of people each woman might have met or been targeted by, all of whom are potential suspects, meant the story had many directions it could go. If you’ve read and liked Tyley’s previous books, you’re sure to feel the same about this one. If you haven’t, Fatal Liaison would make an excellent first read.

FYI:

The author is Australian and uses spelling, word choices, and slang appropriate to her native country.

Format/Typo Issues:

The review is based on an advance copy. I can’t evaluate the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five stars