Revenge Served Cold [Paperback]

Jackie Fullerton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2010

Kathy Spence awakens in the middle of the night and finds herself in a living nightmare. Her husband has been run down and she is the primary suspect. With an eyewitness to the crime and proof that her car was the murder weapon, it appears to be an open and shut case. Terrified for her future, Kathy turns to amateur sleuth Anne Marshall for help. Believing in Kathy s innocence, Anne launches her own investigation, uncovering proof of a conspiracy that reaches from Kathy s past and threatens her own life. In a race against time, Anne must count on her close friends and even the ghost of her father to help her bring a killer to justice before it s too late

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Thomas House LTD (May 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984381503
• ISBN-13: 978-0984381500
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,998,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jackie Fullerton is a successful businesswoman and attorney who grew up in rural Ohio.

A mother of five, Fullerton returned to college when her last child was in grade school. She graduated summa cum laude from both Franklin University, where she earned her BS degree in business, and Dayton University, where she earned her MBA. Fullerton later attended Capital Law School, where she graduated cum laude. She was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1993, the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, in 1995, and the Supreme Court of the United States in 1996. Although she is not in active practice, Fullerton volunteers her legal services at a local homeless shelter.

An active member of the Columbus, Ohio, community, Fullerton has served on several boards and commissions, including the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse; Franklin County ADAMH (Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health) Board; Community Shelter Board; Habitat for Humanity Board; and Court Appointed Special Advocates of Franklin County, Ohio (CASA).

Fullerton divides her time between Ohio and Florida, with her husband, Tom, and their dog, Flash.

Jackie Fullerton is the author of Revenge Served Cold and Piercing the Veil.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An ok story, but the peripheral characters are weak..., May 30, 2010

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Revenge Served Cold (Paperback)

I received an advanced reader copy of Jackie Fullerton's book Revenge Served Cold from the publicist promoting the book. I needed some escape reading, and I hoped that this would fit the bill. Overall, Revenge wasn't bad in terms of plot or action. I struggled with the characters who weren't primary to the story, however. Not sure if I missed an earlier installment or what, but there was little in the way of color to explain how they all came together and worked out the details of the crime.

The main character is Katherine Spence, and she's going through some significant emotional struggles that are slowly revealed to others over the course of the plot. One of her problems is that she self-medicates with alcohol. Her husband knows all this, and tries to help keep her stable. That stability evaporates one day when a former lover shows up at her door, thinking that he can convince her to leave her husband and rekindle their romance. This visit and the associated argument and trauma drives her back to the bottle where she drinks herself into a stupor. But that night, her husband meets an estranged friend at a bar, and is the victim of a hit and run when he leaves the bar to get in his car and head home. All the signs point to Katherine being the killer, based on the car being hers and a witness saying the driver was someone who looked remarkably like her. Since she was blacked out during the time, she can't offer an alibi, but she knows she'd never do anything to kill her husband. The cops see it differently, however. They're ready to indict her for the murder, and the only person trying to clear her name is Anne Marshall, a legal stenographer and amateur sleuth who is relentless in her investigation with the help of her father's ghost who shows up and helps her figure things out.

I'll be the first to admit that a plot device of a ghost partner who is your dead father may sound far-fetched. But it's actually funny and special as to how it works between the two of them. He keeps showing up unannounced and surprising her, usually when there are other people around who can't see him. My biggest issue involved Marshal and her friends who work together to solve the crime. They had no character to me and I couldn't really keep them straight. Since they figure into the storyline to a moderate degree, their lack of background or personality made the story harder to follow than it should have been. If there's a prior book to this that uses the same characters, it may explain why there's little backstory here. But as a stand-alone story, it's a bit of a distraction.

Disclosure:

Obtained From: Publicist

Payment: Free

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Book Left Me Cold, May 21, 2010

By 

R. Fountain - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Revenge Served Cold (Paperback)

Law professor Elliott Spence meets his estranged college buddy, Ross, for drinks and is then killed by a hit-and-run driver. Elliott's wife, Kathy, fits the description of the driver and her car is found a few blocks away with Elliott's blood on the windshield. Kathy has a past with Ross; and a recent run-in with him that didn't go so well. Now Kathy is about to be indicted for murdering the man she loved.

Anne Marshall court reporter, part-time law student and amateur sleuth doesn't think Kathy Spence had the motive or the ability to kill her husband. Although she has been warned to keep her nose out of the case, Anne feels it's her duty to prove Kathy's innocence. So, with the help of her father's ghost, Anne gets to work gathering evidence. However, Anne's diligence will uncover some dark secrets that will once again put her life in danger.

Despite the interesting concept of a father's ghost teaming up with his daughter to solve crimes, the writing style was a little off for me. Fullerton has a tendency to over-explain every detail--things that should be assumed or inferred. Coupled with the fact that everything was so blatantly obvious from page one and the author's insistence on repeating things over and over, sort of raised my annoyance level.

There are way too many frustrations with the plot line to even begin to list. I could overlook the oft-used revenge killing and framing of a loved one, but most of the characters were just one fried brain-cell away from wearing a helmet. I'm sorry, but when the investigating detectives are given "new evidence" from a court reporter/part time law student because she interviewed the bartender where the deceased was having drinks moments before his death, you've reached a whole new level of stupidity.

Then there's Anne herself. Instead of being helpful and endearing, her actions come off as juvenile and reckless; a civilian investigating a homicide which includes withholding evidence, tampering and impersonating an officer of the court... Her father's ghost coming back required less suspension of belief than the fact that Anne was allowed to get away with any of the things she did.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?" Shakespeare, June 1, 2010

By 

michael a. draper (Guilford, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Revenge Served Cold (Paperback)

Elliott Spruce leaves a restaurant after having cocktails with old college friend, Ross Craig, and is run down by a car and killed.

Elliott's wife, Kathy, has been depressed and drinking recently due to an abortion of Ross Craig's child, when they had been involved during college. Medical complications resulted from the abortion and her current mental state is due to that.

Soon after Elliott's death, Kathy is questioned and eventually accused of running down her husband while she was drunk.

When Ross sees her drinking, he thinks that she's sorry that she isn't back with him. He appears at her front door, confident Kathy really wants him. When she orders him out, he is furious. She tells him that he has ruined her life.

Ross calls Kathy's old college roommate, Alice. She tells him about Kathy's aborting his child. Ross was angry before but now he wants to hurt Kathy.

Anne Marshall is a court reporter and law student. She is also an amateur sleuth. Her father, a respected attorney, died of a heart attack two years ago. Now he returns, as a spirit that smells of pipe tobacco. He helps Ann with her investigation, and, when needed, protects her. Other authors, notably, Charles Todd, have used a spirit to question and assist their investigation but it's still enjoyable.

Anne is the star of the novel and reminds this reader of Evanovitch's Stephanie Plumm. She's gutsy, intelligent, persistent and fun to read.

Since the reader knows that Kathy isn't guilty, there are limited possibilities, either Ross or Alice, or both of them were responsible for Elliott's death. The author does a good job of keeping the reader guessing. Although Kathy was overly naieve and other characters unoriginal, this was an enjoyable read and perfect for the summer vacation.