LOVE YOU TO DEATH
MELISSA SENATE
ISBN# (13)9780373895465/(10)0373895461
January 2007
Red Dress Ink
225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9
Trade Paperback
$13.95
297 pages
Chick Lit
Rating: 4 Cups

Abby Foote is the editor with a Best Of column for Maine Life magazine. The problem in her life seems to be at picking boyfriends, the wrong ones over and over. She is just coming off being literally “dumped” by her current boyfriend on the way to the bris for her newborn nephew. The next day she finds out the last man she dated was murdered the night before, and she is a prime suspect.

Benjamin Orr is a detective working the Ted Puck murder investigation. He also happens to be someone who was in high school with Abby. He never knew she had a crush on him then, in fact had not noticed her and did not remember her at their first meeting. Now he is her shadow, trailing her wherever she goes and asking everyone she has ever known questions about her. He is there to not only keep tabs on her but also to protect her, just in case.

Abby cannot believe that Ben Orr is now a detective that thinks she could possibly have anything to do with Ted and his murder. She had the biggest crush on him when she was sixteen and as an adult she should be able to resist not only his good looks but also his charming smile. Trying to convince her coworkers, family and friends she is not the killer nor would she want to harm an ex seems to be near impossible. The only thing she can do is try and prove she is not the murderer, whether Ben wants her to or not. If she is not the killer then it must be someone known to her and also close, to want to avenge her bad luck with men to take revenge on them to even murder.

This is not your usual, if he dumps you I will get even story. It is an engrossing tale of dysfunctional family relationships and how modern dating seems to be that if you cannot get through a first date successfully then they are not right for you. Estranged family members abound not only here but in real life, I do love that even with a death in the family siblings try to come together to heal. The other facet of this is that if circumstantial evidence can make you a murder suspect then what can you do to help yourself prove your innocence. I liked that Abby did not want to sit still and let everyone just point fingers at her but want to find the killer herself. I will say though that this sets it up for another Abby adventure coming soon and to include Ben in her life will make that more enjoyable.

Lainey
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books