In her crusade to exonerate both Tony and Eric, Kate starts bumping into homicide detective Mitch Calhoun, who was the investigating detective in both cases. Their relationship quickly moves from antagonism to cooperation to mutual attraction.

As Kate tries to uncover evidence, she starts to believe that there is a connection between the call-girl’s murder and Tony’s conviction. Eventually the clues lead to surprising cover-ups amidst Washington, D.C’s power elite.

The mystery is intriguingly convoluted. I enjoyed the way the clues unfolded piece by piece. The identity of the murderer is less interesting than the motive behind the crimes. However, the romance takes a backseat to the suspense, and Kate and Mitch are interchangeable with dozens of other romantic suspense heroes and heroines. The relationship between the feckless Eric and Megan, the rich heiress he has courted for money but has grown to love, is more interesting and should have been developed further.

Suspicion is the second novel I’ve read in the past month in which an allegedly successful heroine takes a backseat to the hero when solving the mystery or catching the villain, and frankly it’s starting to get on my nerves. When Kate and Mitch finally confront the murderer, Kate is reduced to screaming in terror and mistakenly bashing Mitch on the head with a log as he fights for his life. I know not every romance novel has to read like a feminist manifesto, but a little show of female competence instead of helplessness would be appreciated.

Suspicion was enjoyable but unmemorable. The novel would have been more interesting if written entirely from Eric and Megan’s point of view. The challenge of crafting a romance about a spineless guy who is at least partially redeemed by the shy heiress’s love and loyalty could have led to the creation of something special.

--Susan Scribner