Take my Breath Away (by Sally Quilford)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve liked all the books I’ve read by Sally Quilford, most of them in Kindle form. I’ve downloaded quite a few at times when she offers them free or on special offer, so when I’m travelling I often take the opportunity to read another one. With the pandemic I haven’t travelled much for nearly three years, so my Kindle has largely been unused.

But on a recent flight I decided to read another Quilford book, and selected ‘Take my Breath Away’ from those I had downloaded. I thought it would probably be a contemporary romance, given the cover and the title. So I was a bit surprised to find, fairly early in the book, that in fact it’s a murder mystery.

Much of the story takes place on a film set, where a historical production is being re-made. The director, George Cassius, is very full of himself. He’s convinced he is a genius - and he did make one film that did extremely well. But apparently his recent productions have been less well regarded. Nevertheless he Is determined that this one will be a blockbuster - and he treats his cast and crew badly in order to get things done.

Patty is the heroine of the book, and we see most of the plot from her perspective. She’s a top actress, playing the part of Cleopatra. She’s just taken a short break from filming with her ex-husband Jason, who clearly isn’t well but won’t admit to it. She goes back to the set… and it’s not long afterwards that the first shock happens, and Patty is suddenly a suspect.

This killing is one of three that take place rather quickly in the next weeks, and though Patty has strong alibis for the others, the press get on her trail. She’s concerned for herself, but more so for her son Jude, who’s about ten and very bright. He and Patty have a good relationship but she’s very protective - partly, as we soon learn, because he has some serious health issues.

A private investigator called Tony is called in to see if he can find out anything that might reduce insurance payments, He and Patty don’t start off too well, but are evidently attracted to each other. So yes, there’s a romantic element to the book which is somewhat inevitable, and I thought it was handled well. But the main focus is the unmasking of the perpetrator(s) of the crimes - and it’s a tense story, very well done.

Possibly the writing could have benefited from some editorial help; there are a few overdone cliches, and one or two typos. A wrong name is used at one point, too, which momentarily confused me. But somehow it doesn’t matter. Sally Quilford has a gift for characterisation; I could empathise strongly with Patty despite her lifestyle being far removed from mine. And it’s the characters that keep the book moving.

The plot is clever, too. I was quite in the dark about ‘whodunit’ - yet, in retrospect, I could probably have worked it out. The book is tense without being too scary, moving without being sappy, and ends In an encouraging way after a dramatic climax. Although I was too tired to read much on the plane, it didn’t take me long to finish it once I had arrived at my destination and had some sleep.

All in all I enjoyed it very much. Recommended if you like this genre of ‘cosy crime’ fiction with a light romantic subplot running alongside the main story.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's Book Reviews