cover image Murder Mile High

Murder Mile High

Lora Roberts. Fawcett Books, $5.5 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-449-14947-8

Freelance writer Liza Sullivan's expectations of a relaxing summer in her Palo Alto home end abruptly when she gets a call saying that her mother is dying. Having left Colorado after she was charged with trying to kill her abusive ex-husband, Liza isn't eager to return home. Reluctantly she packs her dog into her VW van and drives to Denver. Almost immediately on her arrival, the body of Tony, her ex, appears on her family's doorstep. This time he really is dead, and Liza is naturally the cops' key suspect, despite the rather obvious fact that she wasn't in Denver when Tony was murdered. Liza, the witty protagonist of two other novels including Murder in the Marketplace, must play sleuth herself to clear her name. The story moves along briskly, thanks to some nasty high-school pranks, unpleasant family secrets, help from the Internet and most of all, a sharp-edged, cynical, smart-ass and entirely captivating lead character. (Mar.)