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NEXT ACCIDENT,THE
by Lisa Gardner
Bantam Doubleday Dell, August 2001
368 pages
$23.95
ISBN: 0553802380


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

'Lisa Gardner', another nom-de-plume of 'Alicia Scott' turned her attention from Romance titles some years ago. Although she had been very successful in that particular genre and had, in fact, sold her first novel when she was twenty years old, her first forays into Romantic Suspense were to enhance her reputation as a writer. The Perfect Husband and The Third Victim proved popular vehicles for

Gardner's series character, FBI Special Agent Pierce Quincy. The Other Daughter saw his reappearance, and now The Next Accident focuses on Quincy in a different role : now he is a victim.

The prologue of this novel makes it quite clear that Quincy's daughter Amanda is the subject of cold blooded murder by a callous killer who is determined to bring the greatest possible misery to his victim. Thereafter, Quincy contacts former love interest, Private investigator Rainie Conner to help determine the circumstances of Amanda's death. Was it a clear case of death while driving under the influence - and the out of control car caused the death of an innocent by-stander as well as his dog - or was there something more sinister afoot?

Soon another member of Quincy's family is targeted and it is made abundantly clear that the aim of the killer is nothing less than the total destruction of Pierce Quincy himself as everyone he holds dear becomes endangered and in the eyes of both police and FBI Quincy is seen as the possible killer.

I found Gardner's The Other Daughter to be a less than satisfying read as my belief had to be suspended just a bit too much for comfort to allow some of the premises on which the plot was built. While I had great difficulty with some of the foundation of The Next Accident, I did not feel my credulity was strained to the same extent. Gardner, having been so steeped in the Romance genre from her

early work, does not attempt to discard her antecedents. For those who thrive on such, there is lots of physical love, both brutal and tender. Unfortunately, there is also a fair bit of detailed gore. The plotting of the mystery is ingenious and a lot of the psychology involved all too convincing. The characterisation was, for me at

least, less than persuasive but I did feel that this novel was considerably better than its predecessor. Frequently I find myself having difficulties with various authors in that they tend to telegraph the identity of the baddie too early in the piece; this is not an accusation that can be levelled at the writer in this instance. Perhaps it would be fair to say Gardner has not provided sufficient clues - or perhaps I was merely inattentive. There is a great deal to be accomplished by this writer toward working out credible plots before she will be a convincing performer in the suspense genre.

This is a review of ISBN 0752847058, The Orion Hardback edition for Australia. Published on 1/22/2002

Reviewed by Denise Wels, January 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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