Die in Plain Sight

Elizabeth Lowell

Lacey Quinn is an artist and is part owner of a collectibles shop in Newport Beach, California. She takes after her grandfather, who had been a quirky artist. She inherited her grandfather's paintings when he died. She believes they are top quality despite her father's opinion. When Susa Donovan comes to the area for a charity art auction, Lacey takes three of the paintings for appraisal.

She is shocked when Mrs. Donovan pronounces them the work of a famous, short lived artist. Was that how her grandfather had suddenly come into money occasionally? It is difficult for Lacey to come to terms with her grandfather's guilt. It is more difficult to keep the scandal quiet. She doesn't want to ruin her father's chances at becoming a judge. What Lacey doesn't know is how dangerous those paintings have become now that they have appeared.

Ian Lapstrake works for Rarities, Unlimited, a famous art appraiser and seller. Ian is assigned as Susa's bodyguard while she is in Southern California. Ian is used to dangerous projects (he was assigned to Reisa in Running Scared); this one appears to be a quiet duty for once.

Ian wasn't prepared for Lacey to enter his life. Lacey wasn't prepared for him, either. They rapidly connected, and the heat was more than attraction. He saved some of Lacey's work when her shop/home/studio burnt to the ground. Now Ian and Lacey are trying to protect Susa, Lacey, Susa's and Lacey's grandfather's paintings, and themselves. Someone has targeted them. But why?

Elizabeth Lowell's Rarities series continues to combine art, a thrilling mystery with a steamy romance. Die in Plain Sight examines plein air style of landscape painting popular in Southern California in the early 1900's. Susa Donovan is a carry over character from Lowell's Amber Beach series. I enjoyed meeting Lacey and seeing Ian fall for her. Although the antogonist in Die in Plain Sight is fairly obvious throughout the book, the story still has a twist at the end that not everyone may forsee.

Notice: Explicit sexual content, Non-graphic violence

Moving Target
Running Scared
Die in Plain Sight