Cut to the Quick: A Novel (Nan Vining)

CUT TO THE QUICK Dianne Emley Ballantine Books ISBN: 978-0-345-486202 $6.99 - 372 pp Available Now Dianne Emley continues her dynamic plot pacing as she continues with another crime scene thriller featuring homicide detective Nancy Vining. This time it's a scene out of a horror film when Oliver Mercer, a billboard tycoon is brutally murdered along with his trophy girlfriend. In Nan if awakens horrible memories of her own attack a year ago. She is still tracking her assailant whom her daughter has nicknamed T.B. Mann, the bad man. Nan and her ex-flame Jim Kissick are working the Mercer case which stirs up conflicting feeling in Nan. This book has a slam bang ending in a rocky dessert outpost that is bone chilling. This new author (Dianne Emley) is hot stuff! Don't this series or you will be sorry. Great reading and thrills galore! Suzanne Coleburn, The Belles & Beaux of Romance

Dianne Emley has crafted a "I can't put it down" novel featuring her heroine Nan Vining. She weaves an interesting story much like I am used to from Michael Connelly. I enjoyed the continuing build up of T.B. Mann who attempted to murder her in The First Cut. Five stars for Dianne.

In Cut to the Quick, Nan Vining continues her search for her attacker, T.B. Mann, while solving a high-profile double murder. This is another can't-put-it-down thriller from Dianne Emley that kept me guessing until the very end. We are introduced to a compelling cast of characters, some of whom are sympathetic, and some who are repugnant. In addition, we are treated to more Southern California sights. Emley displays her talent for rich description while taking us to diverse locales, including glamorous Malibu and the strange Salton Sea. I was fascinated by the intersecting paths of the characters, and thrilled by the never-ending plot twists. Read this after Emley's The First Cut, or read it alone. Either way, get ready for a thrilling ride!

What a thrilling ride! This was another page-turning story that I did not want to end. I'm looking forward to the third book in the series.

I was hooked on the gutsy character of Pasadena homicide detective Nan Vining in Dianne Emley's debut novel THE FIRST CUT. In the first few pages of CUT TO THE QUICK, Emley shoves Nan into a gruesome double homicide, and the action never lets up from there. As someone who was minutes away from being a murder statistic herself, Nan has great empathy for the two murder victims. As she gets closer and closer to solving the case, Nan deals with reluctant witnesses, a male perp who dresses as a woman, and the attention of her partner, Detective Jim Kissick(who was once a friend with benefits). However, Nan's off-the-Job life as a single mom doing her best to provide for her 14 year old daughter pretty much takes up the rest of her time. Casting a dark shadow over Nan's life is "T.B. Mann," her name for The Bad Man who nearly succeeded in killing her. Nan suspects that he is a serial killer of women in uniform, but she has no real proof. He is still out there somewhere, never found. And he's taunting her in bizarre ways. In the book's chiller ending, Nan and her daughter Emily discover that T.B. Mann has somehow gotten WAY too close for comfort. If you like thrillers with strong characters, meticulous plots, and rich details then grab a copy of CUT TO THE QUICK! (And the book contains the best use of a nest of rattlesnakes ever!) This book is definitely a keeper. I can hardly wait for Nan #3, already on pre-order!