Evil in All Its Disguises
Hilary Davidson
Hilary Davidson’s third novel finds travel writer Lily Moore on a junket with a group of journalists to Acapulco with the intention of writing about a chain of hotels that, it turns out, belongs to Lily’s criminal ex-boyfriend Martin. Lily arrives and soon finds that one of her fellow travel writers has disappeared and hotel staff seem to be keen on sabotaging any of Lily’s attempts to leave the resort. Hotel manager Gavin’s suspicious behaviour, off-hand insults, and clumsy flirtations beckon the reader to wonder what alternative motives he has in planning this trip for the unsuspecting journalists, but his true target is Lily.
This is the third installment in Lily Moore’s adventures, so it was a bit difficult to truly connect with the characters, although Davidson does a decent job at catching the new reader up on Lily’s own personal circumstances, which have catapulted her into new, mysterious waters. Reading the novels in sequence would probably connect the reader better to Lily’s personal story, which contains an even larger mystery that overshadows the events in Acapulco.
Throughout the book, I was reminded of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mystery Evil Under the Sun. Although Davidson does not offer Poirot’s deductive logic and red herrings, she does give the reader an “Old Hollywood” suspense novel based on revenge, murder, money, and betrayal.
- Krista Kermer
Bookshelf Home
No comments:
Post a Comment