Red Hot Lies by Laura Caldwell

". . .a character driven story that leaves much to the imagination. . ."

Red Hot Lies: Wedding nerves, murder and millions combine in this unconventional and fascinating thriller.

Isabel “Izzy” McNeil is a young associate at the law firm of Baltimore & Brown who catapults to the top of the heap with the help of multi-millionaire media mogul, Forester Pickett. She and her fiancé Sam Hollings meet at one of Forester’s BBQs. Sam handles Forester’s financial planning, and Izzy handles entertainment contracts and negotiations. Both young and on the rise, Sam and Izzy immediately hit it off. Now, a couple years later, they are planning their wedding.

Sam is calm and happy in spite of the tedious and time-consuming wedding preparations, but Izzy feels more and more confused and unsettled. She should be happy, and Sam should be looking for the exit. Sam leaves the wedding planner’s office early and agrees to meet Izzy later at a business dinner. Sam doesn’t show up, and he doesn’t come back to Izzy’s that night. At the office the next morning, Izzy receives a phone call. Forester is dead, and Sam is missing—and so are thirty million dollars Forester entrusted to Sam. Suddenly Izzy’s fears about the impending wedding take a back seat to her growing fear that she never really knew Sam Hollings.

Digging deeper into Sam’s disappearance and Forester’s death, Izzy discovers that she doesn’t know anyone as well as she thought she did. Forester is at the center, and everyone has something to hide, even Izzy’s mother.

Laura Caldwell has created an unlikely heroine in spunky Izzy McNeil. Izzy talks like a truck driver, looks like a flame-haired siren and displays an intriguing mix of insecurity and sincerity while maintaining the tenacity of a bull dog. Red Hot Lies is a character driven story that leaves much to the imagination and gives up its secrets like a high class stripper – slowly and with finesse – without hindering the pace.

Feisty and clever Izzy McNeil adds spice to this tangled web of lies and half truths, filling this lively thriller with brass and class.

Reviewer: J. M. Cornwell