The Color of Death

by Elizabeth Lowell

Overview

Kate Chandler has accepted a commission that will solidify her reputation as a world-class gem cutter. But during what should have been a simple transfer, seven rare, priceless sapphires vanish without a trace, along with their courier, her brother Lee, who now, quite possibly, is dead. And suddenly Kate is on the run, pursued by federal agents who believe she's the criminal mastermind of a cunning bait-and-switch.

Only Kate suspects the terrifying truth: that she's stumbled into a conspiracy of deceit, betrayal, and cold-blooded murder that goes far beyond a simple jewel heist. Getting Sam Groves, the FBI special agent who's her constant shadow, to trust her is a step in the right direction — but it may be too little and too late in a bloody game where terror dictates her every move. Because a ruthless assassin has already received the order that Kate Chandler must die ...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060504144
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/24/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	4.19(w) x 6.75(h) x 1.08(d)

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell has more than eighty titles published to date with over twenty-four million copies of her books in print. She lives in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with her husband, with whom she writes novels under a pseudonym. Her favorite activity is exploring the Western United States to find the landscapes that speak to her soul and inspire her writing.

Date of Birth:

April 5, 1944

Place of Birth:

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Education:

B. A., University of California, 1966

What People are Saying About This

Jayne Ann Krentz

“I”ll buy any book with Elizabeth Lowell’s name on it.”

Editorial Reviews

. . .a riveting mix of suspense and romance, sure to increase Lowell’s popularity.” — Booklist on Pearl Cove

“. . .delicious tale of romantic suspense. . .” — Booklist on Jade Island

“Romantic suspense is her true forte.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“I”ll buy any book with Elizabeth Lowell’s name on it.” — Jayne Ann Krentz

“Elizabeth Lowell’s keen ear for dialogue and intuitive characterizations consistently place her a cut above most writers in this genre.” — Charlotte News & Observer

...a diverting read for thriller fans. — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

. . .a riveting mix of suspense and romance, sure to increase Lowell’s popularity.

Booklist on Pearl Cove

I”ll buy any book with Elizabeth Lowell’s name on it.

Jayne Ann Krentz

. . .delicious tale of romantic suspense. . .

Booklist on Jade Island

Elizabeth Lowell’s keen ear for dialogue and intuitive characterizations consistently place her a cut above most writers in this genre.

Charlotte News & Observer

Romantic suspense is her true forte.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

. . .delicious tale of romantic suspense. . .

Booklist

Gem cutter gets cracking, from the hugely popular author of, most recently, Running Scared (2002). When her gay half-brother Lee Mandel disappears, Kat Chandler wants answers. Was Lee murdered by mysterious South American baddies trying to get their swarthy hands on the Seven Sins, rare natural sapphires that everyone wants? Could be-and Kat might have stumbled on the first of these matchless stones. Next: explanations. Lowell (a.k.a. mystery writer A.E. Maxwell, a husband-and-wife team) dutifully covers absolutely everything there is to know about precious and semi-precious stones, gem dealing, and the so-called science of gemology, providing exhaustive detail on various techniques to improve the appearance of colored stones and hence raise their value to unsuspecting buyers. A handsome cop pops up as a love interest and brawny shoulder to cry on, as do more bad guys, including Peyton Hall, the whining, ambitious, unscrupulous son of jewelry retailers and his bitchy girlfriend Sharon Sizemore, who's into picking her cuticles and watching porn when not plotting everyone's downfall. Were the Seven Sins stolen by Lee dressed in drag? Hey, maybe he's still alive! Is Jack Kirby, a former fed, in cahoots with Sharon's father, a hard-bitten security expert? And check out all those people skulking around in dopey disguises (the story's chock-a-block with wigs, stuffed bras, and even fake facial hair)-what's up with that? A few obligatory references to scary people like crack whores are thrown in here and there-as if this ladylike author ever got near one. In fact, much of this seems to have been written by someone else, and the dated tough-guy prose borders on the ridiculous: "White went out ofthe van like a hundred-and-seventy-pound cat. His lead-filled sap hit the base of her skull with a meaty sound."James Patterson-style microchapters, some not even a page long, keep things moving, but the end result is no big whoop. Agent: Dominick Abel/Dominick Abel Literary Agency

Kirkus Reviews