PUBLICATION DATE: August 1, 2012

rene Hannon’s latest novel is a gripping thriller combined with a heartfelt love story that will keep you up late to read “just one more chapter.”

Detective Cole Taylor is asked to cover for another detective who is on vacation.  There’s a beautiful woman wanting to speak with someone about her father’s death.  Although it’s been ruled a suicide, Kelly Warren believes her father was murdered, and she has new evidence to prove it.  She has received a shipment of tulip bulbs with a note from her father promising to plant them with her.  The order was placed the day before his death.  Does that sound like a man on the verge of suicide?  And what about the fact that he didn’t leave a note? Even though Cole is impressed with Kelly’s beauty, he doesn’t buy her murder theory. He looks into the case file and learns that her father was ill.  He might have been suffering from depression as a result of his illness.  Besides, many suicide victims don’t leave notes.  But when Kelly won’t take no for an answer, he promises to look into it.  In the meantime, Kelly agrees to spend some time going through her dad’s things.  He was an accountant and kept things neat and orderly.  She doesn’t think she will find anything out of the ordinary.  As both Cole and Kelly dig deeper, it soon becomes apparent that the mystery goes deeper than either of them had imagined.

In the process of their investigation, Kelly and Cole develop feelings for each other.  They try to keep things professional while the case is opens, but that proves more difficult each time they see each other.  In the meantime, Kelly’s best friend and Cole’s family are curious to see how their relationship will develop.

The action escalates toward the end of the book when Kelly’s life is put in danger.  Will Cole’s personal feelings for her cloud his judgment?  Or will he be able to rescue her?

Lethal Legacy is a very suspenseful and entertaining story.  From the very first chapter, I was eager to learn what would happen next. Even though it is pretty easy to figure out what Kelly’s father was up to, the story maintains a good suspense level throughout.  In part, this is because the characters are extremely likeable.  Not only did I want Kelly and Cole to succeed and be kept safe, I wanted them to fall in love too.  The romantic angle of the story is sweet. I liked how Kelly and Cole really seemed to want to get to know each other on a deep level.  Their discussions about religion were interesting, although it seemed that Cole’s change of heart on that front was a bit sudden. The religious themes woven into the story remind us that even the most hardened criminals are loved by God.  Somehow Hannon succeeds in making this story about crime feel almost wholesome.

In a few places, the writing feels a tiny bit cheesy, but overall this did not bother me, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the story.  This is the third book in the Guardians of Justice series, but I haven’t read the others and I didn’t feel disadvantaged.  Based upon how much I enjoyed Lethal Legacy, now I’ll be sure to look for the first two entries in the series.