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Review: Mac Faraday's ex-wife Christine makes another attempt at reconciliation — he doesn't hurt that he's inherited millions since their divorce — by showing up unannounced at his home. But her visit takes a tragic turn when her current, albeit estranged, boyfriend, Assistant US Attorney Stephen Maguire, shows up in Old Loves Die Hard, the second mystery in this series by Lauren Carr.

Mac delivers Christine that evening to Spencer Inn — Mac took ownership of the luxury lodge when his birth mother, bestselling mystery writer Robin Spencer, died, leaving her entire estate to him — where she spies Maguire having dinner with other guests. Believing that he followed her, Christine has it out with him. "If you know what's good for you, then I suggest you leave — now," she says, adding ominously, "I'm going to kill you." Mac apologizes to Maguire, who he knows from his earlier days as a homicide cop, and escorts Christine to his private suite at the inn. Mac leaves for his own home, returning the next morning to find Maguire dead in his suite. "Christine, what have you done?" he thinks as he examines the crime scene, assuming, not unreasonably, that his ex-wife is guilty of murder. But he has to revise that thought when he finds her body in the bathroom, also quite dead.

The overall murder mystery plot of Old Loves Die Hard is well developed, offering an interesting twist or two along the way. Mac's old cases as a cop provide a solid foundation for motive, leading to a surprising conclusion as to "whodunit". But the book opens with far too much "telling" about Mac and his new life and wealth, and not enough "showing", that is, allowing the reader to become acquainted with, and comfortable with, the character more gradually within the context of the story itself. The setup to the murder is handled somewhat clumsily; Mac is naturally upset with the situation he finds himself in, but is also acting unprofessionally and being a bit of an oaf. He is, of course, a suspect in the murder investigation — the body of his ex-wife was found in his private suite in his inn — and as a retired homicide detective, he knows the process … and he knows better. Fortunately, he is soon cleared and gets settled into character, one that readers of the first book will now recognize and one that new readers will take to, with what follows more than compensating for this rocky, uneven start.

Old Loves Die Hard by Lauren Carr — A Mac Faraday Mystery

Publisher: CreateSpace
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-4609-3513-2
Publication Date: April 2011
List Price: $14.99