Love Kills: A Britt Montero Novel (Britt Montero Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Edna Buchanan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Britt Montero Mysteries | Publication Date: June 12, 2007

"Where the hell is Britt Montero?"

So says Sgt. Craig Burch of Miami's Cold Case Squad at the end of the first chapter of Edna Buchanan's new novel, Love Kills. So have readers been wondering since reporter Britt Montero vanished after her lover, homicide cop Kendall McDonald, was killed three books ago in Buchanan's The Ice Maiden.

When a bulldozer in the Everglades unearths the skull of an infamous kidnapper, the Cold Case Squad is brought in to investigate. Britt was the last person to see him alive, and the detectives have questions only she can answer.

On a remote desert island where she has sought solace, Montero finds a camera on an isolated beach. The film inside yields photos of a happy young couple on their honeymoon. Soon after, Britt is shocked to learn the newlyweds were lost at sea.

When only the groom is rescued, the connection between the reporter and the new widower astonishes her -- and Britt is even more astonished when she finds out the truth. Ultimately, her search for the bridegroom's secrets and the Cold Case Squad's search for the kidnapper's killer collide.

Britt finds herself desperate and in danger, and only one person can help -- Cold Case Squad Lt. K. C. Riley, McDonald's childhood sweetheart. The two women must confront their differences in order to survive and to protect the life of someone they both care about deeply.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. After eight Britt Montero novels and two Cold Case Squad novels, Edgar-finalist Buchanan (Miami, It's Murder) brings Britt and the Cold Case Squad together in this first-rate mystery-thriller. When Miami police discover the remains of Spencer York, a kidnapper who worked for divorced fathers, members of the Cold Case Squad question veteran Miami News crime reporter Britt Montero, the last person to see him alive. Britt, who's mourning the death of her fiancé, finds a disposable camera in the ocean with pictures of a honeymooning couple lost at sea. The groom in the photo, Marsh Holt, later turns up alive, but his bride had drowned. Britt's no-holds-barred investigative journalism leads her to an amazing discovery—Marsh has a habit of marrying women who meet their demise while honeymooning. Through an intricate web of twists and turns, Britt discovers that Marsh plans to marry once again. While the resolution of York's murder comes as a real surprise, it's Britt's riveting quest for Marsh that provides the roller-coaster thrills. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

In Love Kills, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edna Buchanan brings together the protagonists of her two mystery series, making this the ninth Britt Montero and the third Miami Cold Case Squad installment. Critics, who called it one of Buchanan's best novels, unanimously praised the clever, compelling plot with its surprising twists and hairpin turns. Fresh, engaging characters, lush Miami scenery, and careful accounts of real-life investigative techniques round out this suspenseful novel. A few minor problems included some clunky descriptions and a confusing, frenzied conclusion. One critic also cited Britt's disquieting habit of plunging headlong into danger despite her pregnancy. However, Buchanan weaves together themes of love, betrayal, and violence against women into a sophisticated and satisfying thriller.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743294769
• ISBN-13: 978-0743294768
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thrilling Read, and One of Buchanan's Best!, June 9, 2007

By 

Patty Duke Fan "pattydukefan" (yardley, pa USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Kills: A Britt Montero Novel (Britt Montero Mysteries) (Hardcover)

About an hour ago I finished reading this new novel and Ms. Buchanan has surely outdone herself this time! There are some characters in the novel I didn't trust, and rightfully so, but never would have guessed the reasons WHY I shouldn't have trusted them! I feel that this ranks among Buchanan's best fiction, alongside The Ice Maiden and Act of Betrayel, among others. We've had to wait four long years for another Britt novel, but here she is back, and with the guys from the Cold Case Squad too. The two sets of characters mesh fine together in this one novel.

I've been lucky enough to meet Ms. Buchanan (twice) and it's nice to see how down-to-earth and friendly she is to her fans. She signed several books for my friends and myself and chatted with us for quite a while.

Enough said, go out and read this book already!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Maybe I Should Have Started Earlier., October 11, 2009

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Kills (Britt Montero Mysteries) (Kindle Edition)

This is the first Britt Montero book I have read, and I found it a bit confusing since I didn't know any of the characters or their backstories. The author didn't do enough to explain their relationships with Britt, so I had no idea who was important to her and who was not. In the end it didn't matter too much because she didn't listen to any of them, but it would have been nice to know whether this was her normal behavior or was due to "hormones", as she kept insisting. Most pregnant women would not have behaved as she did.
If I put the pregnancy aside, the rest of the story was pretty good. Liked the was Buchanan wove the three sub-plots together, though I thought the denouement of each segment was a bit too abrupt. The child snatcher ending was anti-climctic, though the twist in the serial killer more than made up for it. However, the whole BOOK had no ending, and I'm not a fan of that type of cliff-hanger. I'll have to go back and read some of the earlier books before I decide whether I want to wait for the next Britt Montero.

Reviewed by: Renee S. N.Y.C.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Life can spin out of control in a heartbeat.", June 20, 2007

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Kills: A Britt Montero Novel (Britt Montero Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In Edna Buchanan's "Love Kills," Miami-based crime reporter Britt Montero is hurting. Her lover, homicide cop Kendell McDonald, has died and Britt has been living on a remote island, grieving and licking her wounds. One day, Britt's friend, Lottie Dane, unexpectedly shows up and gives Britt a dose of tough love. She hounds Britt to come to terms with the past, get back to work, and move on with her life. Since Montero has run out of money anyway, she decides to ask for her old job back at the Miami News.

Waiting in Britt's mailbox are numerous messages from the Cold Case Squad. It seems that the body of Spencer York, known as the "Custody Crusader," has been found buried in a Florida construction site. Montero was well acquainted with York, who had been a publicity hound with an enormous ego. He was also a misogynist, who considered all divorced mothers to be "greedy sluts" and bad parents. York took it upon himself to balance the scales of justice by snatching hundreds of children from their divorced mothers and delivering the kids to their fathers. During his career, he abducted more than two hundred children. Spencer York was "rude, crude, and obnoxious," and many people wanted him dead, but who actually shot him in the back of the head?

In addition, Britt gets up close and personal with a handsome and slick Lothario who loves 'em and leaves 'em--dead. His heavily insured and extremely gullible wives invariably get into accidents; they fall, drown, break their necks, and generally fail to return from their honeymoons in one piece. Britt takes it upon herself to stop this sociopath before he claims more victims.

The first half of "Love Kills" is terrific. Britt is a lively and effervescent character who immediately gains the reader's empathy. She is a loose cannon--a courageous, impulsive, and determined newswoman who is determined to get her story, even if it means disobeying orders and endangering her life in the process. Buchanan's style is breezy, the mystery is suspenseful, and the dialogue is brisk and amusing. Britt is on uneasy terms with Cold Case Squad lieutenant Kathleen Constance Riley, who was Kendell McDonald's high school sweetheart and still resents Britt for taking him away from her. "Love Kills" would have been a quintessential recommended beach read except for the off-the-wall conclusion, in which Buchanan bypasses logic in the interest of excitement and surprise. However, if you are willing to suspend your disbelief, you will find this a diverting enough summer thriller about the price women pay when they marry Mr. Wrong.