Finding Laura
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Overview
Mirror, mirror on the wall,who's the deadliest one of all?
It's an antique mirror that can reveal secrets...or tarnish the truth. And for struggling artist Laura Sutherland, buying it is only the first step into a dark maze of lies, manipulation—and murder. It brings Peter Kilbourne into her life and makes her the prime suspect in his fatal stabbing. Determined to clear her name—and uncover Peter's reason for wanting the mirror back—Laura will breach the iron gates of the Kilbourne estate. There she will find that each family member has something to hide. Which one of them looks in the mirror and sees the reflection of a killer? And which one will choose Laura to be the next to die?
Synopsis
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who's the deadliest one of all?
It's an antique mirror that can reveal secrets...or tarnish the truth. And for struggling artist Laura Sutherland, buying it is only the first step into a dark maze of lies, manipulation—and murder. It brings Peter Kilbourne into her life and makes her the prime suspect in his fatal stabbing. Determined to clear her name—and uncover Peter's reason for wanting the mirror back—Laura will breach the iron gates of the Kilbourne estate. There she will find that each family member has something to hide. Which one of them looks in the mirror and sees the reflection of a killer? And which one will choose Laura to be the next to die?
Publishers Weekly
A young artist's obsession with mirrors entangles her in the scandals and power struggles of Atlanta's wealthiest and most influential family in prolific Hooper's (After Caroline) new novel of contemporary romantic suspense. At the Kilbourne estate auction, striking redhead Laura Sutherland is delighted to acquire a beautiful 200-year-old mirror for her collection. But she's no longer convinced her purchase is a bargain when magnetic Peter Kilbourne turns up dead only hours after attempting to buy back the mirror, and the police immediately consider her a suspect. Intent on proving her innocenceand inexplicably drawn to the history of the mirrorLaura becomes a regular visitor to the Kilbourne estate and meets the rest of the eccentric clan. She is immediately attracted to Peter's brother, enigmatic Daniel, the heir to the fortune. A soupon of magical second sight, sexual seduction and the devious machinations of a powerful Southern family intertwine as Laura becomes more deeply enmeshed in Kilbourne affairs. Hooper keeps the intrigue pleasurably complicated, with gothic touches of suspense and a satisfying resolution. (Oct.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
A young artist's obsession with mirrors entangles her in the scandals and power struggles of Atlanta's wealthiest and most influential family in prolific Hooper's (After Caroline) new novel of contemporary romantic suspense. At the Kilbourne estate auction, striking redhead Laura Sutherland is delighted to acquire a beautiful 200-year-old mirror for her collection. But she's no longer convinced her purchase is a bargain when magnetic Peter Kilbourne turns up dead only hours after attempting to buy back the mirror, and the police immediately consider her a suspect. Intent on proving her innocenceand inexplicably drawn to the history of the mirrorLaura becomes a regular visitor to the Kilbourne estate and meets the rest of the eccentric clan. She is immediately attracted to Peter's brother, enigmatic Daniel, the heir to the fortune. A soupon of magical second sight, sexual seduction and the devious machinations of a powerful Southern family intertwine as Laura becomes more deeply enmeshed in Kilbourne affairs. Hooper keeps the intrigue pleasurably complicated, with gothic touches of suspense and a satisfying resolution. (Oct.)Library Journal
Hooper's Gothic novels (e.g., Amanda, LJ 10/15/95) have sold more than four million copies. Here, a young woman is implicated in the death of the wealthy head of a Southern clan.Kirkus Reviews
Hooper's latest paranormal romance (After Caroline, 1996, etc.) tackles reincarnation in a modern southern gothic mode, with lots of coupling in the gazebo.The benighted Kilbourne family has not known a natural death in 150 years. No one dies in bed, and all the men seem to meet their maker somewhere before middle age. At an improbable super- duper garage sale at the magnificent Kilbourne estate in Atlanta, Laura Sutherland buys a small hand mirror made in 1800. Laura has always been obsessed with mirrors, though she doesn't know why, any more than she understands her other eccentricities: her refusal to cut her red hair, for example, and a dislike of Christmas. Right after handsome Peter Kilbourne offers to buy back the antique mirror from her, he's murdered, and Laura immediately becomes a suspect. In order to clear herself, she visits the Kilbournes—and runs right into panther-like Daniel Kilbourne, virtual head of the family. Her reaction to him is something beyond chemical: It's immediate and cosmic, and apparently Daniel feels the same. Meantime, he's involved in a power struggle with the family matriarch, Amelia, who asks Laura to stick around and paint her portrait. During stormy nights at the Kilbournes', Laura and Daniel become lovers. (Two other romances also play out amid the search for Peter's killer.) And while all this is happening, a college student is researching the colorful history of the mirror. In no time at all, the reseacher discovers that it has always been owned by lovers: not just garden-variety married couples, but passionate, inseparable beloveds who meet mainly because of the mirror. Could it be that the same two lovers have been reincarnated, and then re-reincarnated, over the past two centuries?
Despite the adult sex and good surprise ending: a treacly adolescent affair, just a few steps beyond paper dolls and Barbie.