Customer Reviews

Red Hot Lies (Izzy McNeil Mysteries)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another Red-Hot lawyer in a sticky situation
Another Vine selection!
Izzy McNeil is a red-hot lawyer with an important red-hot client, media guru, Forester, and is about to marry red-hot Sam Hollings, who works on Forester's finances. But things take a turn for the worse when Forester suddenly dies, Sam goes missing, AND 30 million in Panama shares goes missing from Forester's safe, implicating Sam. Can Izzy find Forester's murderer? Where did Sam go? And did he take the 30 million dollars worth of shares?

I Liked:
The story opens up very interesting, and pretty gripping. It dies off (see below), but, fortunately, resumes for the latter half of the book. Particularly after the 200 page mark, I found the story going much quicker, flipping pages, urgent to find out what happens next, what the heck happened to Sam and Forester (and getting a few answers too, instead of just more questions).
Credit must be given to Laura Caldwell, as she writes in a very clear, nice manner. She is definitely a good writer, able to create her scenes well. She sets up a very believable atmosphere and puts her characters right in. The scene I especially enjoyed was the one with Mayburn and Izzy sneaking into Forester's mansion. I was reading this part at night, and it spooked me, when Izzy spotted the flicker of light. Very good writing indeed!
My favorite character was, oddly enough, Q. Somehow, I just clicked with him. I liked how he (for the most part) bucked the stereotypical gay guy. I just felt for him, as he lost his boyfriend, his job, his purpose in life, and as he found a new partner.
Another character I didn't mind was Mayburn. The grizzled guy does his job without going too gah-gah over Izzy. Yeah, it's a little hard to believe he would really allow her to help him with his job, but at least the author attempted to make it believable why Izzy would be solving this crime.
And I know this is incredibly petty, but I positively adored the cover art. The rich red, pure white, the broken rose...absolutely stunning! And what drew me to the book in the first place!

I Didn't Like:
In my typical fashion, I'll number them to keep myself from going overboard or repeating myself.
1.Izzy McNeil. Honestly, I couldn't stand her. She is a red-head (what IS it with red-headed lawyers, anyway? Lisa Scottoline had one in Courting Trouble...is it a trend or something?), hot, sexy, young, talented, well-to-do, can learn how to PI in a single bound (and even go on to brag how easy it is to listen to two or even three or four conversations all at the same time), who dresses scantily and wonders why someone is glaring at her you know what's...shall we go on? If she has any flaws whatsoever it's either that she never wears a helmet when riding her Vespa or that she spends way too much time remembering things when she should be investigating. Seriously. The only people in the book who hate her are the Big BadsTM (namely her arrogant coworker, Tanner, whom she feels she can tromp without any repercussions any day). Forester loves her, Shane loves her, Q loves her, Maggie loves her, Sam loves her, Grady loves her, Mayburn loves her...I can understand that she has friends, a fiancee, and coworkers she gets along with, but this is just plain outlandish! She intense feelings for Forester are strange for a lawyer-client relationship, and the "adoptive father" angle is above and beyond weird. And then, she has to take these strange tangents, remembering when Bunny gave her deodorant, when Sam proposed to her...I kept wanting to yell at her, "Investigate already!" The last thing that really bugged me is when she is about to lose her biggest client, she complains a lot about going back to being a mere associate, acting as if she is getting fired. I understand it's gotta be hard to be "demoted", but girlfriend, you have a job, and a well-paying one at that. Don't complain that you aren't top dog, highest earning lawyer at Baltimore & Brown and are only making 80k a year. These were big reasons I could never really "root" for Izzy.
2.Forester Pickett. He started out fairly interesting, but I can only take so much of the "He loves everyone" motif. Being generous with benefits packages for his employees. Making friends within one day of meeting Izzy and then being a pseudo-dad figure (enough that Izzy goes to the hospital after he dies--what lawyer, who isn't working on the estate, does that?). Coupling up Izzy and Sam. Befriending Q AND his partner, Max. At least, Caldwell does give him some "faults" towards the end, the one being his affair with Victoria, but even with this flaw and the knowledge that people tend to over-inflate the goodness of someone at his/her death, I still had trouble stomaching it.
3.Slow pacing. S.L.O.W. A.G.O.N.I.Z.I.N.G. P.A.C.I.N.G. The story opens good enough (there has to be some backstory, some setting the stage, etc.). And then for the next 100+ pages in wades in little unimportant backstories, introducing all these meaningless characters (Izzy's wedding coordinator, her dress maker, her mom, Bunny, Maggie, her second cousin's step-sister's ex-boyfriend's pet poodle...). I don't really care about them, I want to get to the exciting part, the part where Izzy gets off her duff and starts figuring out where the heck Sam went. The book is marketed as a thriller, after all. Thank God the latter half is not that way!
4.Shift in person. When it's Izzy, the author writes in first person past. When it is Forester, Mayburn or Sam, she switches to third person past. And then the last chapter is written in first person present. I think it is rather jarring and really doesn't help the story out more (though I can see why she tried to use this method).
5.Conclusion. The reason Sam fled with the shares is stupid and made me not want to finish it. His reason is practically spelled out in the book, early on, with a Sharpie. And then the real bad guy, the one who killed Forester, is so stereotypical that I wanted to slam my head into a wall.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
F-bombs abound, along with lesser words, like b****, he**, and da**. Pretty standard for this type of novel.
During the slower parts, Izzy recalls numerous sexual encounters with her fiancé, Sam. Victoria and Forester have an affair, as does another person.
Forester dies, but it is from a heart attack, so no nasty bloody bodies to pour over. One person jump in front of a train to commit suicide. That is pretty much it, other than creepy guys staring at Izzy from a distance.

Overall:
I can't help review this without giving a shoutout to Lisa Scottoline's Courting Trouble. Both were about sexy, saucy, somewhat dippy, red-head lawyers who got messed up in some yucky business. Scottoline's red-head had more humor, but Caldwell's red-head seemed more grounded, a better lawyer, more professional. But both suffer from a few similar faults: über sexy (as in the hot almost "Lady of the Night" way) female leads, whom everyone gushes over and adores, and a lagging plot at one point or another betwixt their pages.
Caldwell writes very well, that much is certain. And once Izzy starts actually investigating Sam's disappearance, the plot moves quickly, flows with ease. But ultimately, I have to rate this 3 stars and say I am not curious to read the next entry in this trilogy.

Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*

I really liked the authors' style of writing but found the plot flaws very hard to accept from a character that presumably is reasonably educated as lawyer, moreover what begun as an intriguing sassy read for the first half became flat and dragged to the end.

The title of the book is highly enticing and so is the creative cover ... a withered rose with a broken stem. The enthusiastic cover endorsement and front page praise of the novel makes the reader anticipate a book which can be read in one sitting, an over nighter which can not be put down and indeed this turned out to be the case but not for the reasons I had expected. Laura Caldwell has created an intelligent, beautiful, youthful and high energy protagonist, Izzy McNeill who is a hot, up and coming lawyer in a law firm where she snagged a major client, Forest Pickett, right out of the hands of a more seasoned partner Tanner Hornsby. It happened after being out of law school only eleven months. Izzy knew it was chance, good luck, and her willingness to take risks which won her this honor which was not without pitfalls. Izzy knew it put her in a defensive position with Tanner because Pickett was one of the firms biggest clients. All this happened after hours, Tanner had left for the day and Pickett needed immediate attention to a contract which absolutely could not wait. Izzy completed the job for Pickett and after that he started sending work her way instead of to Tanner Hornsby.

It was quite a shock to Izzy McNeill and the firm when Forest Pickett suddenly and unexpectedly died. However, what no one except Izzy knew was that Forest had shared some information with her, suspicions that he might die soon and not of natural causes. He had received veiled warnings that he would join his deceased wife if he did not step down as CEO and President of the company he founded, which he built from the ground up. It is true he had a heart attack three years before but he recently passed a physical with flying colors and had completely changed his eating habits and lifestyle to conform with what was considered heart-healthy. Unfortunately, Forest had not reported any of the threats to the police. Izzy knew she had to do whatever she could to discover whether or not her client was murdered, she felt she owed this to him. She began searching for likely suspects, anyone who had anything to gain by Forest's early demise. She did not involve the police because after all, she had only Forest's word on the matter of threats and furthermore his death was ruled a heart attack ...

Things get even more complicated after Sam, Izzy's fiancé does not show up at an important dinner. He was missing and so was thirty million dollars worth of shares of Panama stock which were in his safe, on behalf of his client who was none other than Forest Pickett. The stage is set with all the major players in place, including Forest's son, Shane who took over the business but it was rumored Forest did not expect him to be the successor and did not trust his judgement. This review has covered the first sixty pages of the book which does build up great suspense of what this reader expects to be a superb plot. The subject is definitely engaging and the novel did keep me reading far into the night and wee hours of the morning as I kept waiting for that twist and unanticipated curve to strike and blow me away - sorry to write, no such event happened. However, I did heave a sigh of relief when I finished the book but not due to total satisfaction, just for having finished the book. The ending is totally predicatable. While the author sends the reader on the proverbial "wild goose chase' - there is no wild goose to be found. In other words, tangential events happen but they all lead to dead ends. In fact, any reader can easily conceive the ending rather early in the book. While I truly loved the author's descriptions, writing style and striking, interesting characters for which I give 5 stars, I give 3 stars to the plot because it is missing creative elements that could have made this book memorable, riviting, gripping, and edge-of-your-seat which it was not. Looking forward to reading what other reviewers thought and felt about this book. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

Laura Caldwell's RED HOT LIES is an okay title, but it lacks a strong plot. Izzy McNeil for a big time lawyer has the emotional development of a 10 year old. She seldom acts, except to go to Panama, but keeps reacting to all circumstances.
She is portrayed as a very shallow character whose mentor is killed, while her lover/fiancee disappears. She loves him, but allows her own self-doubt to cloud her feelings.
She doesn't go near the water until she is pushed into the current by losing even her job. A superficial rendering of what could have been a tight mystery.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

Okay, so my book club decided upon this book for our first selection.

I believe that this book had all the great elements of a fun read: suspense, sultry scenes, and a convoluted plot. All make for a fun read.

However, I only have one complaint about this book. The character development was a bit soft...I had trouble believing that all of these events could not be more disastrous to Izzy. She seemed to deal with these negative happenings as best as she could. However, I would have liked to know more about her...what were her deepest thoughts? I wanted to know MORE about this woman. It appears that only the surface was initially scratched. That was very disappointing.

I liked "Red Hot Lies", but I have suggested a different book/series for our next meeting.

All in all, a great read for a less introspective audience.

I loved everything about this book. "Red Hot Lies" has great characters, a great plot, & great writing. Izzy McNeil is a young lawyer whose fiance goes missing & ends up suspected of murder. Izzy just can't believe that her fiance would commit murder, so she sets off to prove his innocence. Laura Caldwell seems to be a better writer than most mystery of thriller authors; she goes a little deeper with her characters, & I appreciate that.

What would you do if you're about to be married and are having second thoughts? And how would you react if your wealthy mentor and biggest client is murdered and your fiance is accused of absconding with thirty million dollars in real estate bonds and implicated in the murder? And what if he can't be located?

Well, those are some of the problems faced by Izzy McNeil, our main protagonist in Red Hot Lies (Izzy McNeil Mysteries). Izzy is a hotshot Chicago attorney who has been through numerous threatening trials in her life, so she comes up fighting. You can count on that! A red-head whom Sam nicknames "Red Hot," Izzy is strong, smart, sassy and sexy, but to solve this mystery she has to go above and beyond anything she's ever experienced.

Izzy is devastated at the loss of her friend and mentor and puzzled by Sam's disappearance. She's determined to find Sam and solve the mystery, and that's when her troubles escalate. Someone breaks into her apartment, the authorities follow her...not to mention a mysterious stalker.

When she starts investigating and everything leads to her charming fiance, Sam Hollings, taking the money, Izzy begins to doubt that she really knew him. Could she be so wrong about someone that close to her? Why is the FBI following her? Who is stalking her? Who broke into her apartment? And how does Sam's ex-girlfriend fit into the picture?

You'll learn all the answers in this fast-paced contemporary thriller that has more frightening twists and turns than the road to perdition. The author, Laura Caldwell, is a former trial lawyer who is adept at solving mysteries. Her pacing is excellent and she switches between voices with dexterity. Another plus is that I really like Izzy and was rooting for Sam's innocence. In other words, Caldwell makes you feel for her characters...

After such a heady chase--I read way past my bedtime--the ending was a bit of a letdown, making me scream for a sequel. I can't wait to read the next book in this series, but am deducting one point for the ending. All in all, it's still a great book and I recommend it highly.

Reviewed by Betty Dravis, July 24, 2010
Author of "Dream Reachers" (co-author Chase Von) and other books

They say bad things happen in threes ... let's hope that also holds true for good things, because "Red Hot Lies" is the first in a trilogy featuring Chicago attorney Izzy McNeil and it's good! A very fun read, lots of suspense, twists and turns, red herrings - the whole enchilada that makes a mystery enjoyable.

When we first encounter our heroine, she is having a very bad day indeed - her fiancé Sam has disappeared, and her mentor (and biggest client) is shot and killed. Then her apartment is broken into and she is implicated in her own client's death! The police aren't searching for her fiancé as hard as she'd like, plus she has to somehow exonerate herself - looks like if she wants something done right, she'll just have to do it herself!

An engaging read - a recommend from me.

A mystery is supposed to keep you turning the pages but this one just irritated me. The heroine is very annoying and not very believable and the mystery was pretty transparent and didn't take much for me to figure out. The book wasn't horrible if you don't mind the main character and a somewhat predictable plot but nothing I would get excited about. I would find this hard to recommend.

I had a lot of trouble reading Red Hot Lies. Let's start with the story itself. At the very beginning someone dies and someone goes missing and that's pretty much it. Until page 314. That's when things start rolling. That's a long time to wait for a story to start. Along the way the protag, Izzy (I hate the name Izzy, so it was a little irritating to have to keep reading the name, but that's on me, not the author) pondered numerous times if the people in her life could be capable of murder, and felt like she was being followed. Repetitive. I think there was about 150 pages too many in this book.

There was this subplot that didn't need to be in the book at all. It's like it was just filler, and with 450 pages, I don't really think you need filler. Or, since the author is writing more books in this series, she may have been setting up relationships for future novels. I have no idea, but to me, the subplot was useless.

The supposed twists in the book were easy to figure out, at least for me. I was surprised by nothing except my willingness to continue reading. I knew who the killer was, I knew what was going to happen to said killer, and pretty much everything else.

Now, although I didn't like the story, the writing was okay. Not fabulous, but the author sets the scenes well, she obviously knows about the law and Panama.

The best thing about the book was the characters. They were very likeable and well drawn. Izzy is a tough, sexy, red headed entertainment attorney. My favorite characters include gay but manly, black, bald assistant Q, clever, stealthy, private investigator Mayburn, and the loyal, best-friend-with-a-crush, Grady. You also have the doting mother, lazy brother, and the jerky co-worker to round things out. The author does paint a vivid picture of each character and they all have distinct and interesting personalities.

So, I wouldn't mind reading another book involving these characters, but the author would really need to give me a story full of action, excitement, and suspense to get me to pick it up. It's not that I wasn't entertained, I was, I did keep reading, but Red Hot Lies lacked too much in plot to make it a good read for me.