Book 39, 2024

[chez_jae]

Twist Of Fate by Linda Randall Wisdom

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I had juuuuuust enough time on my lunch break today to finish reading Twist of Fate by Linda Randall Wisdom. It's from Silhouette's "Dreamscapes" line of otherwordly paranormal romances. Main characters are Allie Walker/Brianne Sinclair (it works, trust me) and Pete Hackett.

Waitress Allie is attracted to the private eye who regularly comes into her diner, but she doesn't think she's good enough for Pete. Instead, she goes home every night to her good-for-nothing boyfriend, Whit. Allie wishes for a better life, like that of the wealthy socialite she sees in the paper, but she soon learns to be careful what she wishes for. After Whit murders Allie in a rage, she awakes in the body of Brianne Sinclair. Unfortunately, she's standing over another body and holding the gun. Allie, in Brianne's body, now has to prove her innocence. Her coldly distant mother recommends she plead insanity, which will spare her prison time. With no one else to turn to, Brianne hires Pete to look into her case.

Pete is devastated when Allie is murdered. He knows her loser boyfriend did it but has no way to prove it. When prim and proper Brianne Sinclair turns up, looking to hire him to investigate her fiancé's death, Pete takes the job. He has trouble getting a read on the woman. Everyone tells him she's quiet and reserved, but the Brianne that Pete knows is bold and brash and reminds him achingly of Allie. As the two of them work to clear Brianne's name, they form an intimate connection. Allie is desperate to tell Pete the truth, but she fears he'll think she's crazy. Now she has several things to prove: that Whit killed her, that Brianne didn't kill Michael, and that she's actually Allie Walker, given a second chance at life and love.

This was a very enjoyable story. The mystery was compelling, and I really liked Allie/Brianne. She's been thrown into an impossible situation, but she forges on, full steam ahead, which is something the old Brianne never would have had the courage to do. There was no 'how did they fall in love in a couple weeks' issue, because Allie and Pete had been dancing around their mutual attraction for a long time. Characterizations were wonderful, the plot was engrossing, and the resolution was satisfying. Since Brianne was found with Michael's body and holding the gun, wouldn't a simple gun powder residue test have been able to determine that she didn't fire the weapon? Since the book was written in the 1990's, I wondered if that wasn't a "thing" then, but a quick search of the internet revealed it's been an investigative tool since the 1970's. I mean...a simple test should have eliminated Brianne immediately.

Favorite line: "Remington Steele would have felt right at home here."

Very good, four stars