Sweet Cherry Wine
Carol Schmidt
One afternoon, Laney and Kitt rush to the assistance of a woman being attacked. The crazed victim denies the assault, mumbling that the escaped rapist is ‘her ghost.’ Kitt recognizes the bedraggled woman: ’60s rock star Hayley Malone, whose most recent appearances have been in a series of detox centers.
Emerging once more from detox, Hayley stays at Kitt’s estate, renewing her seductive powers on Laney, and trying to build on her newfound sobriety. But she lives in stark fear of her ‘ghostly’ visitations, and the bottle of sweet cherry wine that always materializes to signal her next descent into drunkenness.
Nothing, Laney assures Hayley, could get through both the estate’s security and Radar, Laney’s German shepherd. Then Radar is nearly drowned in the pool, a bottle of sweet cherry wine appears in the refrigerator, and Laney is attacked by Hayley’s ‘ghost ‘…
And suddenly Laney is pitched headlong into Hayley’s nightmare…
Don’t miss this sizzling portrayal of today’s Los Angeles and yesterday’s rock scene in this rocket-ride follow-on to Silverlake Heat.
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From Library Journal
Sixties rock singer and recovering alcoholic Hayley Malone finds a temporary safe haven in which to recuperate after being sexually assaulted by a ‘ghost’ from her past. Watching over her and guarding her privacy is Laney Samms, who joined with a friend to help Hayley after she was raped. Suddenly, however, the safety and privacy of the estate they’re living on is shattered when the pet dog is nearly drowned and Laney is assaulted in the shower. Hesitantly at first, and then more surely, the two women do enough detective work to discover the attacker’s identity. While the story takes many twists and turns, and the suspense builds to a climax, the novel becomes bogged down under the weight of superficial characters and choppy writing. In addition, although Hayley and Laney immediately become lovers, they just as quickly back off from each other, leaving their relationship unclear from that point on. Seemingly, Schmidt (Silverlake Heat, Naiad Pr., 1993) couldn’t decide how to portray her two main characters, resulting in confusion. An optional purchase.
Lisa Nussbaum, Euclid P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Schmidt can tell a good story and has a firm grasp of the suspense and violence that sometimes run away with less well plotted mysteries. Here, Laney Samms reprises from Silverlake Heat her role as reluctant sleuth. Thrown into the quest for a reappearing ‘ghost’ rapist who stalks an aging 1960s rock star and dipsomaniac, Samms, an ex-overdrinker herself, finds her own life in jeopardy. Racing against time before a bottle of sweet cherry wine (which always shows up mysteriously to launch another binge) signals a final confrontation between the fallen star and her hunter, Samms leads the singer back to her childhood home and the secrets and hidden trauma she has clouded (with drink) in her memory. A fast-paced, scorching, grisly denouement doesn’t disappoint, and a coda, so to speak, comments on life in the information age, in which today’s tragedy is tomorrow’s made-for-TV movie and truth gets lost in the shuffle for glamour. A good read. Marie Kuda
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Details
| ISBN | 1562800639 |
| Genre | Mystery; Suspense |
| Copyright Date | 1994 |
| Publication Date | May-94 |
| Publisher | Naiad Press |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 209 |
| Series | Laney Samms Mystery |
| # in Series | 2 |
| Language | English |
| Rating | NotRated |
| BookID | 12779 |
