Lilly Hawkins is a "shooter," which essentially means that
she is a television news photographer. As she's riding back
to the station, she sees a coroner's van going up a mountain
and decides to follow it, knowing that it's headed toward a
wild fire that has been sweeping through the California
mountains. Lilly manages to get in the area before the roads
are closed, and she's thrilled to be capturing the
evacuations on film, as well as the growing inferno. She
soon learns that the coroner was heading towards an
accidental drowning victim in Elizabeth Lake, and she
decides she can't be bothered with covering that story --
until she hears who the victim was. Lilly met Jessica Egan
thirteen years ago, when they were teenagers. She can't
reconcile the stories she's now hearing about Jessica with
the person she knew then. Could one person really change
that much?
Lilly has strict orders from the station manager to cover
the fire and stay away from the drowning story, but Lilly
begins juggling the two stories, often investigating
Jessica's murder on the sly. Fortunately, she has the help
of her boyfriend Rod, a reporter at the same station, who
manages to get on the mountain immediately before the road
closures are enforced and traffic flow is reversed for
evacuation purposes. Together, they manage to do a little
investigative journalism, cover the fires, and cover for
each other with the boss. Lilly knows they must be getting
close to the truth when the bullets start flying.
HOT, SHOT, & BOTHERED is a fun mystery to read. The
beginning was a bit uneven, but the overall story is quite
solid. The jacket blurb didn't quite mesh with the story,
but I found this to be okay since I loved the story. Lilly's
character is developed quite well, and she's easy to root
for. She's a great balance of intelligent, independent
woman, while still meshing well with her boyfriend and being
appropriately worried when she discovers that he's been
offered a job in another city. The mystery itself was
interesting, and it was neither too easy to guess the
culprit nor heavy-handed with red-herring characters.
TV news photographer Lilly Hawkins is on the biggest
assignment of her career. A deadly wildfire is racing
through the California mountains toward the town of
Elizabeth Lake. After barely slipping in ahead of road
closures, Lilly has her hands full photographing the
massive evacuation and approaching inferno. She has no
time to cover the accidental drowning of a reckless party
girl in the lake . . . until she learns the victim’s name.
When Lilly knew her thirteen years ago, Jessica Egan was a
principled environmental activist and not a bit reckless
or wild. Could she have changed that much, or is a killer
exploiting the chaos surrounding the fire to disguise a
murder?
Soon Lilly’s juggling the story she should be covering
with the story she can’t let go. What could have been the
motive for Jessica’s death? Was it sexual jealousy, long-
held grudges, or just plain old-fashioned greed that got
Jessica killed? Meanwhile, Lily has to contend with her
station’s low-budget technology, the antics of her dodgy
uncle Bud, and the alarming job offers her boyfriend is
fielding from big-city competitors. Lilly is racing
against the clock to get answers. If only the murderer—or
the fire—doesn’t get her first . . .
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