Rotten Lies

As good as the first. Quite different setup, with some nice twists - Lee's reaction to her good day and the problem are both well-written - very much in character. ''What's the big attraction in the press tent?'' Boyd is clearly laid out - well, all of them are, they're fully-realized characters with their own quirks. The way the clues come up more or less accidentally in the course of normal events is nicely handled. And I really like how Lee and Graham's relationship is handled - it's neither standing still with them going over the same ground in each book, nor progressing rapidly and without consideration from both of them. Graham gives up a lot, but not everything he finds interesting; Lee believes she's willing to do the same and show more that she'd be miserable if she did, until she considers the alternative. Nicely handled. Again, good mystery, good story, excellent characters. show less

Lee Ofsted, playing on the LPGA tour, is shooting the best round of her life when a storm rolls in and play is suspended due to lightning in the area. After the all clear is given, Lee heads back to where she was playing but comes across someone who apparently was hit by lightning. Being a good person, she puts aside her play and starts CPR until someone else comes along. Unfortunately, she strains a previous injury and is forced to withdraw from the tournament. Luckily, the TV broadcasters need a color announcer and get her to fill the spot.

One would think that being struck by lightning could not be murder - think again.
Completely captivating!

This was my first introduction to Charlotte and Aaron Elkins combined work. While I enjoyed the book, I prefer the Gideon Oliver series more.

There are similarities in the two writer's styles (unsurprisingly), with the love interest between the protagonist and distant lover/spouse, but the settings are very dis-similar. Lee Ofsted is a professional golfer who seems to wander into death among the country club set, and her love interest is a police officer who is going to set up his own private security practice for the golf set. It makes for an interesting set of plot possibilities, and I will read a future book in the series to see how they continue to handle it. All in all, this is a light read, with reasonable dialogue and interesting show more characters. show less

Murder on the golf course during an LGPA tourney. Lee Ofsted for the first time in her life is leading the boards and events as well as murder conspire to knock her out of the running. This disappointment is supposed to be assuaged by solving the murder of a disliked man. I was still bummed out but Ofsted takes life as it comes and of course was a help in the resolution of the case.