Welcome to theworld of Nola Billingsley, a 40-something biotechnology whiz with an adored shorthairedpointer, who finds herself embroiled in both a nefarious murder and a blazinglyhot new romance in the thriller A PointedDeath, by Kath Russell. When techno genius Nola Billingsley finds herformer employee, an amoral creep who stole secrets, murdered, she doesn’texactly shed tears. Instead, she begins a flirtation with the inspectorassigned to the case.
With her shorthaired pointer Skootch watching her back,Nola and her group of techno pals try to help solve the murder, bringing intoplay Nola’s feisty feminism and idealism, and putting both her life and herlove affair at risk. Finding a link between the Chinese government and Americanthieves, she bands with a group who believes that biotech people should protecttheir industry from any evil abusers. Could there be a government plot afoot,and can she save the world even as she tries to salvage her love life?
Smart, witty, and playful,
A PointedDeath looks at the biotech industry with a decidedly feminine slant. Thewriting is edgy and full of humor, and the plot twists and turns with surpriseafter surprise. A breathtaking thriller with a unique background,
A Pointed Death announces the debut ofan enormously talented new writer to watch.
Praise and Reviews
A Pointed Death is a very well written, compelling mystery that brings
together murder, corporate intrigue, bioscience, and one truly fine
pointer dog named Skootch. In the interest of full disclosure, I must
reveal that the author was kind enough to provide me with a copy of her
book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I must also state that I
have never given a five star rating to a first time author with a self
published novel. This one is truly deserving.
I started this book with much trepidation. I know nothing about the
biotechnology business or finance, two areas that play a large role in
this story. For the first thirty pages or so, I was feeling a bit lost
as the author seemed to be providing me with too much information. It
wasn't long however until her characters of Nola, Janie Belle, and of
course Skootch had me completely invested in the story. When Nola
discovered a headless body that just happened to belong to a disgraced
ex-employee, I was intrigued. When she met Harrison, fraud detective
with caramel eyes, I was even more intrigued. When she started playing
amateur sleuth and began discovering all the intricate threads that
connected into a very ugly web of corporate and international crime I
was totally hooked.
The author has a very readable writing style that flows well. She
infuses her story with quite a bit of humour, often provided by Skootch
the totally lovable dog. Nola is a fierce middle aged woman, often
despairing of her current situations, but ever confident in her own
abilities. She's a great character; a woman of intelligence and talent
who steadfastly refuses to take herself too seriously. Her relationship
with Harrison was very nicely portrayed in a way that added further
unexpected depth to Nola's character.
The author obviously loves San Francisco as she includes a lot of
descriptions of the city and it's surroundings. I was initially a bit
put off by this, but soon came to appreciate the role the city played in
the story. Her descriptions are so well done she has essentially
created another character. By the end, I felt that I had actually been
there.
As with all mysteries, in the end, the plot is the thing, and that
is perhaps what surprised me most about this book. It is just expertly
paced and plotted. There were no gaping holes of implausibility, no
chapters that should have been left out or repetition of facts, or any
of those other elements that often plague first time writers. This is a
great example of mystery storytelling. I now know a bit more about
finance, biotech, San Francisco, Episcopal Church Services, and Pointer
Dogs. I was also late for work and fixed my kids frozen pizza for
dinner so I could finish this up and find out how it ended! The author
states in her final acknowledgements that this is a "silly escapist
book". Perhaps I will only add that this is in fact a thinking person's
escapist book. It was a fun ride and one that I would recommend to any
mystery lover.
Reviewed by J. Prather
