Dead Certain

Dead CertainThis was the first Mariah Stewart book I had purchased. The cover art drew me to the book, but the content kept me coming back for more. I found my self reading it late into the wee hours of the night, and I even snuck in a few pages to read at work. At the end I found that it was part of a series and not even the first book! I had to find the others.

SUMMARY: Her stalker/assailant now safely in jail, antiquities-expert Amanda Crosby has put her life back together and, in the process, has discovered an independence heretofore unknown: she has earned her black belt in tae kwon do, publicly speaks about the necessity of stalker awareness, and even has a column in the local newspaper. As her life is coming together, her business partner and best friend, Derek England, makes a move that could potentially destroy their antiques shop. Angry and frustrated, Amanda makes some innocuous threats...and is later horrified when they come true. Amanda find herself the primary suspect, but as the bodies continue to drop, it becomes apparent that Amanda herself is the real target. WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: Amanda Crosby is the most well-rounded and believable heroine of Stewart's trilogy. She's smart, independent, and decisive, but also vulnerable and thoughtful. Chief Sean Mercer is an admirable love interest, with his own tragic past. Two people alone in the world, finding each other in a time of great peril...trite, but extremely effective. Villainous Vince Giordano is also the most frightening criminal of this trilogy in that there is no real etiology ascribed to his evil; he just is evil. WHY YOU WON'T: Honestly, I can't think of any real reason why you won't enjoy this novel, assuming you enjoy this genre. The action sequences are able, as are the romance sequences. The characters are well-written and enjoyable. The conclusion is very satisfactory. BOTTOM LINE: The second and best installment in Stewart's trilogy. Highly recommended.

Following right behind the June release of DEAD WRONG, the first story in Mariah Stewart's trilogy, is DEAD CERTAIN. As in DEAD WRONG, the story begins with a prologue where three prisoners, Channing, Guiordano, and Archer, await their turn before a judge. They are leg shackled and handcuffed to metal chairs and placed in a room together while the courthouse is in lockdown as the deputies search for a fourth prisoner who has escaped. During the prologue, the premise for the trilogy unfolds as these three prisoners make up a deadly game of what could be done if they knew they would not get caught. Though this prologue is the same tale as the one in DEAD WRONG, Ms. Stewart displays a unique talent for delivering it this go round through the thoughts and personality of another killer, Vincent Giordano, making it fresh again. Vince Giordano is a violent man who killed his wife and children and is released from prison due to technicalities. Giordano's lawyers were able to prove the cop who testified and provided the evidence against him lied, allowing Vince to walk away from the horrible crimes he committed. He's free now and ready to repay a promise - to kill three people on Archer's hit list. Archer is the one who actually thought up 'the game,' and Guiordano is responsible for wiping out those on Archer's list. Since Channing took care of Vince's hit list, Guiordano feels obligated to fulfill his part of the 'game'. Amanda Crosby is the woman responsible for Archer's jail time. She put him away for stalking her. In Archer's delusional mind, he doesn't believe he stalked her; he thought she loved him.. Archer wants Amanda to be paid back for ruining his life. Amanda Crosby and Derek England are partners in an antique business. Derek is not the normal antique dealer and is quite a flighty, impulsive person, a fact that has him in deep trouble with Amanda. She's learned the outrageously expensive find he just purchased is illegal and the prohibitive cost could ruin their reputation as well as bankrupt the firm. In a fit of frustration and anger, Amanda makes the statement she could 'just kill him,' a threat that is enough to cause the police to suspect her of murder. Mariah Stewart slowly unravels another mystery and gives insight into a killer's motive and thoughts, horrible as they are. Some characters are revisited in DEAD CERTAIN, and the series shows even more of their personalities. While I didn't find this second story to be as intense as the first, it's still a very well written mystery and fans will be reading at a fast rate to uncover the murders, waiting for the moment when another killer is captured. A question in my mind, though, was about story number three. We've learned how irresponsible and delusional Archer is, and he is the third man, holding Curtis Channing's hit list. Will he follow through with his part in this evil game? Hmmmm.... There's a neat little twist at the end of DEAD CERTAIN that shows Mariah has wondered abo

Archer Lowell, Curtis Alan Channing, and Vince Giordano share a jail-holding cell waiting for the law to process them when all hell breaks loose as someone escapes custody. To pass time while the complex is totally shut down, the trio discusses why they are here when the conversation turns to who would they like to kill. They agree that to be successful they would have to exchange victims like the Hitchcock and DeVito movies did.Amanda Crosby is angry with her business partner Derek England because he purchased an illegal stolen Iranian goblet that they will have to return. Amanda leaves a voice message on Derek's server that she will kill him. Derek agrees to meet Amanda, but he never arrives at her home.The next day Broeder, Delaware Police Chief Sean Mercer informs Amanda that Derek was murdered, she is a suspect because of the voice message and that the victim apparently knew the killer. However, Sean becomes concerned that someone is stalking Amanda and is made to look like imprisoned Archer Lowell is dong it. When her neighbor is killed, Sean is DEAD CERTAIN that that someone with insider information on the Lowell stalking is plotting Amanda's destruction.The second murderer-switch tale is an enjoyable police procedural romance starring a fine cop, a beleaguered heroine, and a fully developed support cast including two vile villains (one in prison and one as his surrogate killer). The story line moves quickly forward as the proxy killer causes havoc in which evidence points towards Amanda or Archer. Fans will appreciate this solid tale and look forward to the final member of the unholy trio doing his damage.Harriet Klausner

Three prisoners met briefly one morning. They soon had a game imagined out. Each of them thought up three people that they would love to kill once they were out of jail. Then the three swapped victims. Vince Giordano was to kill the three people on Archer Lowell's hit list, who was still serving time in prison. He did not HAVE to do it, but since Channing had gone after the three on Vince's list (in previous book titled "DEAD WRONG"), Vince felt the need to hold up his end of the verbal contract, the verbal game. The first was Derek England. The second was Marian O'Connor. The third was Amanda Crosby. Amanda Crosby was furious at her business partner, Derek. Derek went to Italy to find items for their antiquities shop. What he purchased and shipped to Amanda turned out to be stolen goods. Amanda was having to send the item back to the Middle East, where it was stolen, and the shop would have to take a huge loss in money. Amanda swore she'd kill Derek, as she swears every time he did something stupid. But this time, someone killed Derek before she saw him again and Amanda's threat was still on Derek's cell phone voice mail. She instantly became the number one suspect. Chief Sean Mercer of Broeder Police did not want the beautiful lady to be a killer. He was very attracted to Amanda. But Sean went by the book, so he forced himself only to think of her as "the suspect". When Marian, the lady who owned the store next to Amanda's was murdered, Sean was sure the two killings were connected. Yet he could not figure out how. It soon became apparent that the only connection between the two murdered people was Amanda. The second murder proved that it could not have been Amanda. Sean was positive it all had something to do with Amanda's old stalker, Archer. Problem was that Archer was still in prison, made no phone calls, had zero visitors, and not a single friend in jail or out. But someone was killing for Archer and Sean knew Amanda would be next. ***** Author Mariah Stewart gets better and better with every book she writes. I feel sorry for anyone who misses this trilogy. It is one of the best ones I've had the pleasure of reading. Mariah Stewart ROCKS! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.