One Texas Night (Harlequin Intrigue, No. 527)

Rating:
Summary: Great Writing, Not so great Story
Review: Sylvie Kurtz is a fine writer who joins the Intrigue line with "One Texas Night." Telling the story of a woman who might have witnessed her neighbor's murder, Kurtz proves that she has a great voice that deserves to be discovered. If the story ultimately disappoints, it's not because of her writing style. She has a definite way with descriptions, painting pictures with words, and some of her sentences deserve to be reread and savored on their own. The problem is, the story never goes anywhere. It boils down to little more than 200 pages of "Grady wants Melinda to remember, Melinda doesn't want to remember, sparks fly, he goes away....He returns, he wants her to remember, she doesn't want to remember, sparks fly, he goes away...Grady returns, he wants Melinda to remember..." See a pattern? Some actual plot movement begins in the last fifty pages, though it hardly matters, since those who read enough mysteries have probably figured out the identity of the villain long before. In a better book, the revelation of her neighbor's killer would have been the false ending before the more surprising, satisfying one. Alas, it doesn't happen, and it's hard to find any satisfaction with how the finale plays out. I have no doubt I'll pick up her next book, if only to enjoy some fine writing. Hopefully something will happen in that one.