Just a Breath Away

This workmanlike thriller set in Louisville, Ky., from Thompson (Can’t Find My Way Home) opens a few days before the running of the Kentucky Derby. Manhattan fashion model Lorelei March is in town visiting her older sister, Kelsey March, an interior designer. After spending the evening at Conway’s Tavern chatting about their parents, men, and horses, the sisters decide to walk back to Kelsey’s nearby loft. Vernon Nott, a bar patron, follows them. On the street, Nott fatally shoots Lorelei, but the tavern’s owner arrives just in time to shoot Nott dead before he can kill Kelsey. At first, the police focus on Lorelei as the intended victim, but could it have been Kelsey who was marked for death? Soon others close to Kelsey start dying under mysterious circumstances. Thompson provides plenty of viable suspects with plausible motives as she skillfully braids together the various possible answers to the questions who and why. Lines like “Kelsey sobbed as Lori’s lids slowly lowered over her beautiful indigo eyes” will resonate with fans of romantic suspense. (June)