Amazon.com Review
Fans of smart, sexy, slightly screwed-up female crime solvers can add a new name to their list of favorite characters: Thea Kozak. When the heroine of Kate Flora's Chosen for Death takes time away from her career as a consultant to private schools to solve the disturbingly brutal murder of her adopted sister, Carrie, her investigation turns up painful truths she's reluctant to face. Still recovering from the emotional desolation of her husband's accidental death and the shock of Carrie's murder, Thea reenacts her sister's search for her birth mother in hopes of finding the killer in the process. Accompanying Thea--and occasionally battling with her--on her journey of discovery is Andre Lemieux, a Down Eastern detective with more than crime solving on his mind. Flora's full-bodied, complex characters bob and weave, and occasionally collide, in an intricately laid plot that explores the sometimes uncomfortable side of intimacy. More than just another well-written detective novel, Chosen for Death is also a thought-provoking study in identity, autonomy, and family dynamics that mystery lovers are certain to enjoy.
From Publishers Weekly
Because her main characters-Boston-based educational consultant Thea Kozak and Detective Andre Lemieux of the Maine State Police-are engaging, the flaws in Flora's debut are more irritating than fatal. Easy jokes affect even the naming of the victim, who is Thea's adopted "sister Carrie." Worse, Thea's melodramatic motivation is hammered into readers with repeated variations of the theme, "I can't let someone kill my sister and get away with it." Although the sisters have recently drifted apart, especially since Carrie moved to Maine, Thea believes the murder relates to Carrie's search for her birth mother. From the condition of Carrie's bludgeoned corpse, Andre believes that it is a straightforward sex crime. When Thea finds evidence in Carrie's apartment linked to her sister's search, she decides to duplicate the potentially fatal hunt herself, rather than turn the clues over to Andre-even though their relationship has progressed from scrapping to "a tingle" when they touch. Flora's characterization is assured and her plotting is tight and credible.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

