Books I've read this week

I haven't been in the reading mood too much this week but I did read Suspect by Jasmine Cresswell © 2007. I quickly found out it was the second book in a trilogy, the first being Missing and the third, Payback. The story centers on Liam Raven, an attorney and his client, Chloe Hamilton, a former Olympic athlete, who is charged with murdering her husband Jason, the well-loved mayor of Denver. It turns out that Jason has more than a few secrets that could cause someone to want him dead, and Liam is more than just Chloe's attorney, and lots of people have a motive. Liam's father, Ron Raven, had been outed as a bigamist in the first book and the fallout for his family plays a big part in this story, too. Liam himself isn't that likeable of a person in the beginning. He's in his mid-thirties, a divorce attorney, and has never been married. The story opens with him waking up in a woman's bed and he doesn't even remember her name. This character 'flaw' explains one of the big plot lines so I guess it's necessary. It was a fairly good story (except for the mistake I point out in the next paragraph) and I didn't figure out the real killer until almost the end. I do wish I had read the first book and I'd like the read the third because I don't think all the loose ends were tied up.

There was a very big mistake in the last part of the book and it just amazed me that the author didn't do her research better. Someone tries to kill Chloe by turning on the gas valve in her bedroom. That part I can understand but it says carbon monoxide is escaping and that's what will kill her. If you open a gas valve and the burner isn't lit, natural gas is what is going to come out. Carbon monoxide only occurs when there's a faulty burner or the flue is blocked. This bothered me so much I emailed the author. I'm looking forward to hearing her explanation.