Title: The collector /
Authors: Roberts, Nora
Year: 2014
Subjects: Antiques Fiction.; Theft Fiction.; Witnesses Fiction; Murder Investigation Fiction; Artists Fiction.
Abstract: When professional house-sitter Lila Emerson witnesses a murder/suicide from her current apartment-sitting job, life as she knows it takes a dramatic turn. Suddenly, the woman with no permanent ties finds herself almost wishing for one. Artist Ashton Archer knows his brother isn't capable of violence--against himself or others. He recruits Lila, the only eyewitness, to help him uncover what happened. Ash longs to paint her as intensely as he hungers to touch her. But their investigation draws them into a rarefied circle where priceless antiques are bought, sold, gambled away, and stolen, where what you possess is who you are, and where what you desire becomes a deadly obsession.
Contents: Lila Emerson is fascinated by other people's lives. But then one day she witnesses something only too real -- the brutal and shocking murder of a young woman living across the street in New York. And now, because of what she saw, Lila's own life is in immediate danger. With the police following a false lead, Lila is on her own. Her only hope is to team up with Ashley Archer, an artist with his own complicated reasons for getting involved.