Review: A Dead Red Heart Was A Red Hot Read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2012
This Lalla Bains mystery series keeps getting better and better. I enjoyed the first one, A Red Dead Cadillac, and was curious to see where this author would take the next one. I wasn't disappointed, either. The protagonist, Lalla Bains, a forty year old, twice-divorced model is a lovable and well-developed character that has you questioning her reasons one minute and loving her the next minute. She is opinionated, both smooth and rough around the edges, and heartbreakingly lovable the next. Her love interest, Sheriff Caleb Stone, an ex-marine, was the perfect foil for her antics and get in-your-face righteousness, which fits her character perfectly. You find yourself rooting for her, and then asking her, `what were you thinking, Lalla?' the next. This author knows her facts about the crop dusting business that Lalla and her father run in Modesto, CA, a perfect venue for this and more murder mysteries in the future. The rest of the characters, a former Vietnamese freedom fighter, his daughter, Grace, a fired Ag pilot, an unknown killer, Detective Rodney and Pippa Roulette were well threaded into the storyline perfectly. I found this mystery to be well paced and, like the former one, original in style, and am looking forward to her next mystery, A Dead Red Oleander.