The Comstock Museum in California has acquired an extensive
collection - but security has not kept pace. Now they need
to call in an expert to stem the tide of theft. Kim Revis
is just the security expert they need. Already planning to
visit the area to clear and sell her grandmother's house,
now that lady has moved to assisted living, Kim is keen to
take the job. Her family donated a large part of the
collection.
MEMORY LANE is set in the town of Camp Oro, with a
volunteer mayor and two police officers, who are unprepared
for a vast hole to gape open in the middle of the main
street. Kim hears that there is no money to repair the
problem. Mark Stockton, her grandmother's lawyer, is also
retained by the town. He explains that during the
Depression, many people dug secretly for gold and their
tunnels now cave in from time to time. Kim's expertise is
in the realms of electromagnetic locks and sensors, not
detective work, but the museum badly needs both skills.
The local police believe the thefts are an inside job - and
the personality clashes inside the museum don't make Kim's
work easy.
Mark is keeping a secret from Kim, which heightens tension,
and the museum board constantly snipe at one another;
revisiting home turf draws Kim back into the community and
provides so many personalities and names that it can be
hard to assimilate them all. The story revolves around
character and atmosphere, so while it is slow to get under
way, suspicions build and we start to pick our own
suspects. Kim and Mark feel an attraction, but
professionalism keeps them apart. Chills grip us when Kim
climbs down into the hole and follows the tunnels alone,
and a skeleton is found. I did wonder why Kim didn't stay
in the museum overnight from the start, as that was when
thefts were occurring. I also thought it was obvious how
the goods were being stolen.
MEMORY LANE was originally written in 1990, which is why
everyone leaves phone messages and handwritten notes for
everyone else, instead of using mobiles and e-mails. It's
amazing how much has changed. But some things don't
change - local, personal politics, greed, and the urges of
the heart. Vella Munn is a pen name for Vonna Harper and
this finely-wrought light mystery does her credit. Fans of
intelligent romance will enjoy the read.
When the museum in Kim Revis’s small home town needs her expertise to design a security system against increasing thefts, she’s more than happy to help. Coming home will give her a chance to get her grandmother’s historic house ready to sell now that the elderly woman is in assisted living. Meeting her grandmother’s attorney Mark Stockton is an unexpected thrill. He’s warm, compassionate and exceedingly sexy, if a little reserved. Plus he’s concerned about her safety at the museum. But he needn’t worry—though the thief hasn’t been caught, she’s never felt in any personal danger. Fate has a lousy sense of time. In a perfect world, Mark would simply ask Kim out and their instant chemistry would take it from there. But there’s a major obstacle: attorney/client privilege demands he withhold a deeply disturbing secret
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy