Witness to Death by Heather Graham

Witness to Death

by Heather Graham

Paperback, 304 pages

Expected publication: April 28th 2020 by Zebra

Goodreads synopsis: 

Lorna Doria hadn't committed a murder. She'd seen one. Yet somehow she'd become the prisoner, while the killer was out on bail. As state's witness, she'd thought the shelter of her quiet New England life would be enough to keep her safe. Law enforcement disagreed—and it was New York City undercover cop Andrew Trudeau's job to protect her. But their strong attraction had already made it too late for that . . .

Now, with Andrew as her bodyguard, Lorna has no choice but to accept his constant presence. She assures herself she can handle it, she's mature, not easily rattled—except by Andrew. They're as different as can be, yet something bonds them, something beyond the danger they face. But as a cop, Andrew's life will always be on the line, and Lorna must decide whether she can live with that—if a killer lets them have any future at all . . .

***

2 Stars 

Some reviewers claim that this book was originally published in 1985. Based on the amateurish writing style, I can believe this is just a reprint of an old title. I wish the publisher would have requested a complete rewrite. This book has some good bones but the unlikable heroine and the wimpy detective just didn’t resonate with me. I wanted to DNF it almost from the beginning. The writing was choppy and unprofessional given what we have come to expect from Graham’s writing. There was no flow. I felt like I was reading this is a tunnel. I was on one end and the characters and storyline were on the other. No matter how far I read into the book, I could not feel a connection to either the story or the characters.

I wanted to love this. I do love nearly every Heather Graham book I pick up. I wouldn’t have requested an ARC otherwise. But this just let me down. This story needed to stay in the past if it wasn’t going to be updated to the author’s current writing standards. She is not this writer any more. If you read this, please don’t judge any other Graham book based on this one. She has a plethora of other fantastic ones in her backlist.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.