When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Long hidden family secrets may be the motive for murder in When the Smoke Clears, the first mystery in the "Deadly Reunions" series by Lynette Eason.

Alexia Allen had a troubled childhood. She had an abusive father and a mother too fearful to help. When a fire started in their home, Alexia's sister is disfigured and ultimately commits suicide. Her brother left home, never to be seen or heard from again. And Alexia's father blames her for all that has happened. As soon as she graduated high school, she left for Washington State to train as a firefighter, vowing never to return to her home town. Now, ten years later, a friend urges her to do just that, return for her 10th high school reunion. She reluctantly agrees, mostly because she's just been suspended for saving a child during a home fire but not following orders while doing so and has time on her hands, only to be drawn into a murder investigation — as a person of interest — when she discovers the dead body of a former boyfriend. Another suspicious fire and Alexia soon finds herself a suspect for both murder and arson. Why is someone targeting her and what can she do to prove her innocence?

Alexia Allen is a strong and, despite her family history, forgiving character. Detective Hunter Graham is a stalwart, committed professional, who is attracted to Alexia but must first solve the crimes attributed to her. This is a first-class novel of romantic suspense, one that readers who abhor excessive violence and crude language in their novels will most certainly welcome.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of When the Smoke Clears.

Acknowledgment: Baker Publishing Group provided a copy of When the Smoke Clears for this review.

A Killer Among Us
Revell (Trade Paperback), May 2011
ISBN-13: 9780800733711; ISBN-10: 0800733711

When a Secret Kills
Revell (Trade Paperback), May 2013
ISBN-13: 9780800720094; ISBN-10: 0800720091

When the Smoke Clears

A "Deadly Reunions" Mystery by Lynette Eason