Review: Great protagonist and lots of good characters
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 23, 2012
Second in a series, R.P. Dahlke's Dead Red Heart stars 40-year-old crop duster and amateur sleuth Lalla Bains as she unravels the mysteries of her heart and of her erstwhile stalker's death. Maybe she's a suspect. And maybe old school friends are trying to scare her off from learning something else. But Lalla Bains doesn't react well to threats of any kind--not even threats of marriage.The Modesto California scene is convincingly described--I can feel the warmth, hear the airplane overhead, smell the dust in the air. I can hear the characters' voices too, from psychologist-turned-waitress to model-turned-pilot to Vietnam vet now living on the streets. There's real family drama fuelled with real life adding depth and feeling to the tale. And, of course, there's that murder to be solved.A gentle romantic tension is nicely balanced with stubborn independence and sheer determination as the story unfolds. Foolish risks are plausibly undertaken. Danger is real. And the resolution, while maybe not convincing in retrospect, works perfectly when it arrives.I'm tempted to go and find book one now. Even more, I'll be looking out for book three. These characters and this place have the staying power to fuel many more tales.Disclosure: I received a free ecopy of this book from World Literary Café in exchange for my honest review.