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A thrilling new Lucinda Pierce mystery - Candace Eagleton was brutally murdered, and Homicide Lieutenant Lucinda Pierce is determined to find her killer. Meanwhile, Charles Rowland tells FBI agent Jack Lovett vague details about a murder linked to someone at the heart of the US government. But before Jake can find out more, Charles bolts – and is killed. When a scrap of paper is found in Charles’ apartment with a list of names, including his and Candace’s, it’s clear the murders are linked – and there may be more to follow . . .  

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2012

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Diane Fanning

42 books430 followers

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5 stars
18 (27%)
4 stars
23 (35%)
3 stars
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2 stars
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Karin.
1,826 reviews33 followers
May 12, 2025
I finished this because it's well paced with twists and I wanted to see how it ended, but wow, it's not well executed and it's traditionally published! Who edited this? Aside from some odd punctuation, there are some weak story telling moments and things used that were hard to swallow, perhaps partly because I haven't read the first four, but most of them are from this story only. It felt like a B level movie. There was also what had to be a gratuitous side story because

I also found it a bit difficult to like Candace at first--she did grow on me a bit.
Profile Image for Helen.
Author 14 books14 followers
April 8, 2012
False Front by Diane Fanning is the latest in the Lucinda Pierce mystery series. Pierce is a Homicide Investigator who’s called out to a home where a woman has been found hanging from the second floor balcony. Suicide or murder? This is not Pierce’s first time to a scene like this and she’s not jumping to any conclusions.

But this is not just a book about Pierce trying to unknot the twists in the case. It’s also about her boyfriend, FBI Special Agent in Charge Jake Lovett, who’s off on a case of his own, which involves a murder three decades old. Their two cases collide, though, when Lovett comes across a connection between them. Sharing notes and information doesn’t necessarily make things easier.

Lucinda Pierce is a formidable protagonist. She’s smart, determined, loving and flawed. You would want her on your side. You would not want to be on her wrong side. The case is complicated with lots of twists.

This is not my first book by Diane Fanning nor my first Lucinda Pierce book. In 2009, I reviewed Punish the Deed and in 2010 I reviewed Twisted Reason.

Each Lucinda Pierce book gets more complex. While each paints a cold picture of crime and evil, Fanning also lets us see a warm still-developing picture of Lucinda Pierce.

I give False Front by Diane Fanning a rating of Hel-of-a-Character.
Profile Image for Ed .
479 reviews43 followers
May 21, 2013
"False Front" is a recent entry in Fanning's Lucinda Pierce detective series. Pierce is as tough and hard-boiled as they come--she is a homicide investigator who survived being shot in the face and who refuses to have further reconstructive surgery done. People can take her as they find her, glass eye and all. It is representative of the series (I have read most of them) as we follow Pierce and her ally and possible love interest FBI Special Agent Jake Lovett take separate tracks in solving a series of murders that seem unconnected although we discover pretty early that an unknown but very powerful person and her contract killer are behind them.

The theme of the death of parents and its affects on children continues with the deepening relationship between Pierce and Charley Spencer an eleven year old girl who Pierce first met a few books ago when Charley discovered her mother's body and attached herself to the detective as she was running down the killer.

Worth reading for the odd but very real protagonist.
Profile Image for Catherine Woodman.
5,919 reviews118 followers
March 21, 2013
This is the first book by this athor that I have read--I like her tow main characters--one is the chief of police and her love interest is an FBI agent. They have some family involvement with a couple of cases, which allowed me to get to know them a little, and my favorite jmurder mysteries are those that have some kind of balance between crime and outside work life.
Profile Image for BxerMom.
961 reviews14 followers
November 5, 2012
Lucinda is just a bad ass. You either love her or hate her. I happen to LOVE her!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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