Jaclyn Wilde has a lot on her plate. She and her mother own
Premier, one of the most fashionable event planning firms in
the greater Atlanta area. As if six weddings in five days
weren't enough, they have to deal with Carrie Edwards, a
whiny Bridezilla who could take out Tokyo and is more
trouble than three weddings combined. The last thing Jaclyn
needs is a man to complicate her world. But damn the man she
just met is fine. She gives him her number, and tells him to
call in a week after things settle down.
Eric Wilder is a cop, one hundred percent cop, and wary of
entanglements and cop "groupies" who just want to get laid
by a man in blue. But Jaclyn is different. She has class up
the wazoo and legs up to her neck; the kind of legs a man
wants wrapped around him for hours. To hell with waiting, he
calls her on his way home.
One hot and steamy night later its clear there is something
special happening, a one night stand has turned into a first
night, with possibilities. (I am not kidding about the hot
bit, I recommend you keep a fire extinguisher and a cold
drink close at hand while you read.)
All might have gone pretty smoothly if Carrie the Bridezilla
hadn't gotten herself killed, leaving Eric in charge of the
case, and Jaclyn his prime suspect. Things only get worse
when the killer realizes Jaclyn is the only witness and must
be neutralized.
Linda Howard had me laughing out loud on one page, and on
the edge of my seat on the next. The humorous byplay of the
cops and the all-woman crew of Premier was handled with a
light touch. The murder mystery ratcheted up tension and
kept Jaclyn in jeopardy. The characterization was spot on,
the shifts in point of view clear and intimate. Bottom
line, VEIL OF NIGHT ranks as one of Howard's very best and I
hope there are plenty more to come.
Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner who loves her job—
usually. But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has
been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of
mythic nastiness, a diva whose tantrums are just about as
crazy as her demands. But the unpleasant task at hand turns
seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and
everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another
of doing the deed.
The problem is, most everyone—from the cake maker and the
florist to the wedding-gown retailer and the bridesmaids’
dressmaker—had his or her own reason for wanting the bride
dead, including Jaclyn. And while those who felt Carrie’s
wrath are now smiling at her demise, Jaclyn refuses to
celebrate tragedy, especially since she finds herself in
the shadow of suspicion.
Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that
there’s too much evidence pointing toward too many
suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, with whom he
shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie’s death.
Being a prime suspect means that Jaclyn is hands-off just
when Eric would rather be hands-on. As the heat intensifies
between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves
dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride
but one particularly irresistible wedding planner, unaware
of a killer’s vow.
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