Customer Reviews

Black Silk

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4 star:		(2)
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When seasoned New Orleans Detective Charlotte "Charlie" LeBlanc is called to the scene of the City's latest homicide, she isn't disturbed by the murder scene until she notices the one silk stocking left next to the victim's posed body. Charlie's sister was murdered six years prior, her body left in the very same manner, posed after death with a single black silk stocking placed next to her lifeless body. Charlie found her sister's body and has dedicated her life to finding the person responsible and seeing that justice is served. As the list of suspects grows to include most of the immediate family of the latest victim's fiancé, Charlie finds herself drawn to Cole Stratton, the estranged son of the fiancé.

Cole Stratton immediately admired the beautiful, determined detective, despite her tenacity in questioning him and his siblings. Knowing that Charlie's life was touched by the same brutal violence as his father's fiancée helps him understand her devoted resolve in pursuing this killer. Cole is terribly attracted to Charlie, and is equally determined to pursue a relationship with her, but first he must convince her that he is not the killer.

BLACK SILK is a wonderfully written book with rich descriptions of the sights, sounds and flavors of New Orleans. Charlie and Cole are intelligent characters and are intensely passionate in their desire for one another. Secondary characters play an integral role in this book and a budding relationship between Charlie's remaining sister and her partner is refreshing. Just as you would expect from Metsy Hingle, BLACK SILK is filled with wonderful romance, exciting suspense and heartfelt emotion.
COURTESY LAURIE/ROMANCE JUNKIES

Charlotte LeBlanc is a detective in the New Orleans Police Dept. She had planned to be a lawyer, but six years ago her sister was murdered. Charlie can't let the case go, she has been secretly studying the reports on the murder for the whole time she has had access to them. Now the fiance of one of the movers and shakers in town, has been murdered, and the crime scene is exactly like the one in the small town where her sister died. Determined to find the murderer she neglects to inform her lieutenant that she suspects the two murders are linked.

Cole Stratten is the oldest son of J P Stratton. It is J P's fiance who has been murdered. Since Cole is estranged from his father he doesn't much care that he was marrying a gold digger. However his siblings are not so happy about the wedding and Cole has always tried to protect the twins from their cold uncareing father. He doesn't know who killed her but he will protect his brothers. He sends his sister out of town because she had attacked the fiance with a glass of champagne at the wedding rehersal. J P has been married 3 times and can't seem to leave the young women alone.

J P is a scoundrel. He began his fortune by swindleing the fortune out of Cole's mother. His care for nothing attitude makes you feel even more pity for his children. EXcept for Aaron Stratton who is his father's shadow. He does all the dirty work and intends to take over from his father whenever the old man dies. It seems he will do anything to keep him happy.

When Cole meets Charlie the attraction is instant. But Charlie has all of the Stratton's for suspects. She is not ready to sign off on any one of them. She will do what it takes to find her sister's killer. The drama is good, the plot is excellent, I loved the romance, so for me it was a very good read. I liked the way the story came to light and the way the victim's past and schemes were revealed.

Another winner from Metsy Hingle.

FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK-DESCRIPTION

The victim was young, lovely and seduced by the wrong man...

Mere hours before her wedding, the fiancee of real estate mogul JP Stratton is found strangled in her penthouse. New Orleans homicide detective Charlotte "Charlie" Le Blanc views the crime scene, finding a black silk stocking draped casually beside the body-a chilling calling card from the killer.

The dramatic clue leads Charlie to a world of privilege and wealth, and before long she singles out a suspect whose identity crEates a furor in the city: Cole Stratton, JP's estranged son. But what she doesn't know is that Cole has been set up, and while she sets out to prove his guilt a real killer is on the loose-a man who now has Charlie in his sights, a man with yet another black silk stocking.

There is far more to this novel than the description, but I feel if I expand too much on the plot, I may give too much away. It has murder, deception, betrayal, wealth, sex, and a lot of sinister behaviors. All it's missing is the non-stop action, but not needed in this police procedural novel.

This book is categorized as a romance, but is more of a comtemporary mystery. There is a hint of romance, but not until near the end and more of what you might find in a romantic suspense novel.

Needless to say, it was a fairly good read. There are plenty of suspects, and Metsy Hingles style of writing keeps you guessing who-dun-it for the majority of the book. It definitely held my attention and the only complaint I had was the authors repetition of the facts a few times. Other than that, it was well written. She has a unique style of capturing the characters thoughts as you are reading.

So, is it worth buying?

Yes. I believe so. This was my first novel by this author and without having any reviews to know if it was worth the money, I took the chance and bought it on a whim. I was not disappointed in my decision in the least.

Black Silk was a pure romantic suspense, and I mostly liked it.

The plot was well-crafted with lots of twists and turns. The storyline was the dominant part of the story. The murder and solving it were the focus of the book - which was good and bad. I liked the plot. I wasn't bored with it. At the same time, with so much of the focus on the murders, the romance suffered.

There was a workable chemistry between Charlotte and Cole, and the situation they were in, with her a cop and him a possible suspect added a great dynamic. The problem was that the author just didn't spend enough time on them. There were few true scenes between them. Most of their interaction was regarding the murder case. Everything between them was very superficial. It was all snap, snap snap...they meet, there's chemistry, and oh, hey, they love each other and want a future. There really needed to be a few more scenes between them to develop the bond.

Aside from that, the book was good. As I said, I liked the plot, and I also liked the side story of the romance between Charlotte's other sister and Charlotte's cop partner. That was a nice addition.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

New Orleans police detective Charlotte LeBlanc dropped out of law school and joined the police force when her younger sister Emily was murdered six years earlier while in college in Baton Rouge. But a crime similar in nature to Emily's is gripping the city of New Orleans - Francesca, the fiance of wealthy hotelier JP Stratton is found strangled in her apartment, with a black silk stocking left behind as a calling card - just like Emily's murder.

Charlotte gets her partner Vince to remain mum on the fact that the crime is similar to her sisters' so that she won't be pulled off the case. The main suspects are JP and the four Stratton sons, who all seem to have been at Francesca's apartment the night she was slain. Charlotte and eldest son Cole have an instant attraction to each other that she fears acting on since one of them is a murderer, and could she really have anything to do with a man related to her sister's killer? Meanwhile, her partner Vince is grappling with his attraction to her youngest sister Anne and fearing the nine year age gap (she is 23).

With a plot and twist straight out of CSI, Hingle's latest is loaded with suspense and chemistry between the two leads. Unfortunately, Hingle does not fully realize the potential for this explosive romantic relationship, so it takes a back seat to the main story, which is first rate.

This is a by-the-numbers, well written and plotted with good characters police procedural. Many readers enjoy this style of book because everything is orderly, logical and expected. The trouble with that is it easily can become plodding and average. The author carefully keeps to reality, modern day, with no "bells and whistles" or outrageous components requiring the reader to suspend belief. The romance between the lead characters is something to anticipate but it comes way too late in the story and wraps up quickly. This book could be recommended to anyone from an older teen to your grandfather and they would enjoy it. But for an experienced reader, a better book using the characters of a wealthy male businessman and a dedicated female cop is any of the Roarke-Eve Dallas series by Nora Robb. Understanding in advance, that it would be like comparing an orange to a candied kumquat--both equally delicious, but requiring a different taste expectation.

I found this book to be very predictable, with the murderer obvious from the get-go. I also thought the romance between Charlie and Cole could've been written better...it seemed to come way too fast and out of nowhere, without any of the buildup usually found in these types of books.

New Orleans Detective Charlotte "Charlie" LeBlanc joined the force a little over five years ago when an unknown assailant got away with murdering her sister Emily. The killer remains at lodge with no clues forthcoming. Her partner Vince Kossik calls Charlie while she leaves yellow M&Ms at Emily gravesite as she always has on her late sister's birthday. A homicide similar to the strangulation death of Emily has occurred.

The victim Francesca Hill was to marry wealthy realtor J.P. Stratton. The crime scene points to someone who knew the victim committed a planned non-passionate murder. The two detectives soon look at who in the wedding party had a motivation to kill Francesca. The evidence points towards two of Stratton's adult children, Cole and Holly, as each had a public dispute with the deceased. Complicating the case, Charlie is attracted by the prime suspect Cole, who also might have killed her sister.

BLACK SILK is an intriguing police procedural romance with the added spin of having the lead detective and the prime suspect falling in love. The story line is action-packed, but in many ways driven by the demons that haunt Charlie who chides herself for not protecting her sibling and for failing to uncover the identity of her killer. A secondary romantic subplot augments this exhilarating romantic suspense in which fans will wonder if Cole is a killer, a lover, or both.

Harriet Klausner