Close Up by Amanda Quick – Review & Excerpt
Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Google Play / Apple / BAM / Book Depository
Description:
Welcome to Burning Cove, California where 1930s Hollywood glamour conceals a ruthless killer…
Vivian Brazier never thought life as an art photographer would include nightly wake-up calls to snap photos of grisly crime scenes or headshots for aspiring male actors. Although she is set on a career of transforming photography into a new art form, she knows her current work is what’s paying the bills.
After shooting crime scene photos of a famous actress, the latest victim of the murderer the press has dubbed the “Dagger Killer,” Vivian notices eerie similarities to the crime scenes of previous victims—details that only another photographer would have noticed—details that put Vivian at the top of the killer’s target list.
Nick Sundridge has always been able to “see” things that others don’t, coping with disturbing dreams and visions. His talent, or as he puts it—his curse—along with his dark past makes him a recluse, but a brilliant investigator. As the only one with the ability to help, Nick is sent to protect Vivian. Together, they discover the Dagger Killer has ties to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood royalty and high society. It is a cutthroat world of allure and deception that Vivian and Nick must traverse—all in order to uncover the killer who will stop at nothing to add them to their gallery of murders.
Review:
Close Up by Amanda Quick is the 4th book in her exciting Burning Cove series. This series takes place during the 1930’s in the small town of Burning Cove, California. Some of the characters we met in the first two books have secondary roles, as we return to Burning Cove. Burning Cove is a small resort town with many Hollywood stars or the very rich, but it seems that is it also a magnet for danger.
We meet our heroine, Vivian Brazier, who is a freelance photographer, trying to create and sell artistic photographs to galleries; but in order to make money, she also takes pictures at crimes scenes. Vivian manages to have a different take on scenes, and uses her expertise to sell these crime photos to the local newspaper, for a cover shot, which helps her make ends meet. After being turned down on a her new artistic series that she offered the local gallery, and after her recent cover photo of a murder from the night before, Vivian receives a visit from a private investigator, who tells her that her life is in danger.
Nick Sundridge, our hero, is the investigator that has been hired to become Vivian’s bodyguard, with his dog, Rex. Vivian at first doesn’t take him seriously. Why would anyone want to kill her? She learns that Luther Pell, who we have known since the first book, received information that someone is planning to kill her, and he is the one who hired Nick to protect her.
Vivian is a wonderful heroine, who is independent, mature, smart, savvy and with an excellent ability to see special secretive things in her photos. Nick is also a great hero, as he also has a psychic ability that give him visions in dreams of what may happen. Their romance was slow built, as each began to learn more about each other, and their chemistry was great; in so many ways, they made a great couple who also worked well together, as well as understanding each of their abilities.
What follows is an exciting story that never lets up, with Vivian and Nick in the middle of all the action. This intriguing story had a few surprises, which had me guessing until the end. I thought Rex, Nick’s dog, was a wonderful partner. I did like Vivian’s sister, Lyra and would love to see her get her own story. I do not want to give spoilers, saying anything more would ruin the book for you.
Close Up was a wonderful exciting, intense suspenseful story, with a bit of romance, great couple, as well as having a slight paranormal element. Amanda Quick once again gives us a complex mystery that had a bit of everything and the fun of being in the glamorous world of 1930’s. I suggest you start this series from the beginning to enjoy the setting of this series, as well as meet some very good characters. However, each book does read very well as a standalone
Reviewed by Barb
Copy provided by Publisher
Vivian Brazier was attractive but not in the traditional sense. Her features were too striking, too bold, too intriguing. Too compelling. The effect was definitely more than skin- deep. If she lived to be a hun¬dred she would still be a fascinating woman.
Her high-waisted trousers and black silk shirt emphasized her slim, graceful frame. A couple of combs anchored her whiskey-brown hair behind her ears, framing mysterious, unreadable green eyes. She watched him in a way that warned him she saw things other people never noticed. They were the eyes of a woman who viewed the world from a different dimension.
The smile she had given him when she had answered the door, polite and professional though it was, had sent a thrill of delight across his senses. Now he was aware of a deep, prowling curiosity; a need to learn more about Vivian Brazier.
“I don’t know this Luther Pell,” Vivian said.
Rex leaned forward far enough to put his head in the vicinity of Vivian’s right hand. She glanced down at him, frowning a little. Then she reluctantly gave him a couple of pats. Rex grinned a wolfish grin and inched a little closer to Vivian.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never met Pell, either,” Nick said. He paused and then decided there was no point keeping the truth from her. “He owns a nightclub in Burning Cove. There are rumors that he’s got mob connections.”
“That’s not exactly a resounding testimonial.”
“I know. But my uncle says Pell also has connections with the FBI and with a certain clandestine government agency. Evidently Pell used to run an intelligence operation during the Great War. All I can tell you is that Uncle Pete trusts him, and that’s enough for me to take this threat seriously.”
“Well, it’s not nearly enough for me to believe what you’re saying.”
“You’ve got every reason to be cautious,” he said. “But if you will call a homicide detective named Archer at the Adelina Beach police station, he will vouch for me.”
“Detective Archer knows you?” Vivian asked warily.
“No, but he knows Luther Pell. They both served in the War. Why don’t you go inside, Miss Brazier, and make the call? Lock your door. I’ll wait out here until you’re satisfied that I’m not dangerous.”
Vivian eyed him with a considering look. “Does this have some¬thing to do with the Dagger Killer?”
He had already figured out that she was a very smart woman, he reminded himself.
“That,” he said, “is a very interesting question. What makes you ask?”
“It’s not as if I’ve got a long history of people trying to kill me. My only experience in that regard occurred about three weeks ago. Now here you are on my front step telling me that someone wants me dead. It strikes me that if there is no connection to the Dagger Killer, we’re discussing an amazing coincidence.”
He nodded, pleased that her reasoning paralleled his. “Strikes me that way, too. But I don’t know the answer yet. Until I do, we should not leap to conclusions. Make the phone call, Miss Brazier. Then I’ll tell you what I do know.”
