Ilsa Mayr Livres

After finishing her training, arson investigator Karin Bergstrom takes a job with a new investigative unit which, unbeknownst to her, is headed by her former mentor, Aaron Knight. Aaron had been more than her mentor. He and Karin had been unable to hide their growing feelings for one another. But then a ceiling collapse had changed Aaron's life forever and ended his relationship with Karin. To bind a healthy young woman to a man who might never walk again seemed unconscionable to Aaron. Now, thrown together by fate, can they keep their shared past from interfering with the daunting task of catching an ingenious arsonist? The long, hot summer tests their talents, their loyalties, and ultimately, their love.

No good deed goes unpunished. Apprentice investigator Cybil Quindt never paid much attention to that saying until the cold days of December when three people in the homeless shelter where she volunteers are poisoned. Though the powers that be would like to blame the killings on the homeless community, Cybil suspects that the murderer is someone who would profit by closing the shelter, which occupies a prime real estate location. Before she can investigate, she is hired by an industrial maven to tail a husband suspected of philandering. When he and his pregnant mistress are murdered, Cybil is fleetingly tempted to believe in absolute evil. However, a break-in at the shelter, the stalking presence of a mysterious figure, and an attack on her life convince Cybil that the murders are connected and rooted in greed, jealousy, and hate.

From the moment Rachel Carradine hears the dark, rich tones of Blackie Madigan's alto saxophone, she knows her heart and her hard-fought, well-ordered life are in danger. As the daughter of a jazz musician, she knows the seductive power of the music just as she is familiar with the insecure, irregular, bohemian existence of the musicians. She escaped that lifestyle once and promised herself that nothing on earth could induce her to embrace it ever again. Yet hearing Blackie's Orpheus-like melodies, she is faced with the greatest temptation of her life. But Blackie makes some dangerous assumptions about Rachel that threaten to derail their relationship before it even gets going. Unbeknownst to Rachel, Blackie is Blackstone J. Madigan, the entrepreneur behind the powerful conglomerate that owns Exotica, the company threatening Rachel's professional livelihood. Mistaken identities, secrets, deception--hardly a harmonious beginning. Rachel and Blackie must see if their relationship can overcome these major obstacles and decide how much they're willing to risk and if it will be enough.

Merrilee Ingram, a singer on hiatus from a concert tour, ignores her doubts and returns to her Appalachian hometown. But someone in town has a long memory, and the campaign to run her out of town escalates from verbal threats to a live copperhead on her porch.