The Secret of the Villa Mimosa [Paperback]

Elizabeth Adler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

Was it an accident...or an attempted murder?

Dr. Phyl Forster watched the TV news, horrified at the sight of the broken body in the ravine.  Then she raced to the hospital to see the victim.  Miraculously, the girl was alive, but without name or memory.  An irresistible challenge to Dr. Phyl, the psychiatrist who had buried her own past....

Detective Franco Mahoney was looking for a killer, without a whisper of a clue.  He needed the beautiful psychiatrist to unlock the victim's mind.  But he wasn't prepared for the passion Dr. Phyl inspired or the passion that ensued....

Elizabeth Adler's riveting novel of erotic obsession and revenge sweeps from San Francisco to Paris, from the Côte d'Azur to a remote Hawaiian island, tracing a tale of murder and madness with roots in a decadent past....


From the Paperback edition.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lust, greed and murder keep readers on their toes in Adler's new novel of romantic suspense. Psychiatrist Phyl Foster is intrigued with the unconscious Jane Doe found-having obviously been left for dead-in a San Francisco ravine. When the woman wakes up with amnesia, Phyl helps her try to remember her past and treats her like a kid sister, giving her clothes and a place to stay. The psychiatrist also runs interference for the woman, newly named "Bea French," with macho homicide detective Franco Mahoney, who follows every lead toward Bea's true identity, which he hopes will help him discover who tried to kill her. After Phyl finds Bea a job as social secretary to a rich socialite, the amnesiac travels to Paris. When her employer dies suddenly, she is left with a fortune, two orphans, a restored French villa-and a 50-year-old murder mystery. Bea's investigation into that murder triggers her memory, so she calls Phyl for help, but the psychiatrist is busy with a jealous new lover. Meanwhile, Franco runs a check on the lover. What he finds sends him rushing to Paris to protect the innocent. Adler is expert at digging deep into her characters' psyches and showing what makes them tick. Her villain here is obvious but wonderfully portrayed-as are all the other characters in this well-plotted, entertaining work. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Adler (The Property of a Lady, LJ 2/1/91) is a household name to fans of romantic suspense. In her latest, a psychiatrist helps an amnesiac recover her memory.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 603 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745136591
• ISBN-13: 978-0745136592
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,562,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Adler is a self-confessed romantic, a travel addict and a foodie, all of which she brings to the reader in her novels, along with a tough thrust of suspense and an unfolding mystery that keeps you on your toes. Elizabeth has lived in many countries and when she's not writing spends time discovering even more places to bring to you, with her husband, Richard - still in love after all these years - as are the characters featured in her past three novels, Mac Reilly the Malibu PI and Sunny Alvarez, his lover and side kick. You have to read about them to know them! Elizabeth lives in California and has the ability to take you to all those romantic places she knows so well, Capri, Venice, Tuscany, St. Tropez, Monte Carlo, and of course, Malibu. You will feel you are there, with her, sitting on that Italian terrace, sipping that coffee, smelling the delicious food, savoring the heat and the sunshine and the mystery unfolding for you. Elizabeth is five-three and wishes she were taller, blind as a bat without her glasses that anyway she is too vain to wear, and at 128 lbs till thinking about that diet. She has one daughter, Anabelle who is married to rock musician Eric Avery and two kitties, the Siamese, Sweet Pea who rules the household, and an adorable black cat Sunny.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Past and Present Collide In Riveting Novel, June 22, 2004

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret of the Villa Mimosa (Mass Market Paperback)

From a writer who delivers great novel after great novel, comes one that truly has everything. The suspense and mystery are first-rate as clues to a decades old murder are revealed. An amnesiac searching for her past, two orphans looking for their future, a handsome stranger, a dedicated psychiatrist, and an elderly eccentric are some of the characters you will take to heart. But it is homicide cop Franco Mahoney who is my personal favorite as he combines the best of Irish charm and affability with his innately Italian love of opera and gourmet cuisine.

Set in San Francisco, Paris, and Hawaii, this story follows the key characters as their lives overlap in a well-plotted, page-turning story. Accident victim Bea French finds a true friend in psychiatrist Phyl Forster who has forgotten what a personal life is. Naturally, Franco Mahoney hopes to give her one, until a handsome stranger with an erotic obsession whisks her off to his private island. Can the good guy win the girl? Will ancestors long dead be avenged? Will Bea's memory return, and at what price? Will a cat named Coco and a dog named Poochie save the day? This is one you won't want to put down and one that leaves you wanting more from these characters and this writer.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read for a rainy day., July 7, 2000

By 

"bibliofiend" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret of the Villa Mimosa (Mass Market Paperback)

First of all, this book had me from the beginning. The way she opened this book peaked my curiosity and never let go. Following the storyline from continent to continent was fun, and you could feel Bea's frustration at trying to recover from amnesia while trying to figure out who she is and what she did that would cause somebody to want her dead.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fast, Fun Read, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Secret of the Villa Mimosa (Mass Market Paperback)

Why everyone did not enjoy this romp from San Francisco to the Cote D'azur beats me. It may not be Dickens, or be recommended as one of the 100 greats of the century, but the story was fun, the reading fast and the conclusion satisfying. Recommended for a long rainy Sunday afternoon.