A Burning Question

by Nancy Gotter Gates

SMOKE SCREEN

So much for Emma Daniels's plan for a peaceful Florida retirement. When a neighbor dies in a cooking fire, she can't believe it was an accident. For one thing, Henry Conlan didn't cook. For another, the grizzled Lothario was secretly dating most of the senior complex's female residents—and letting each think she was his one and only. Emma won't let someone in her own community get away with murder.

But Henry's life was a crazy tangle of dysfunctional relationships, jealousy and poisonous accusations. As Emma deciphers seemingly unrelated clues, she receives ominous threats targeting her and those she loves most. Now the only way she can expose this case's most crucial evidence is to outthink a desperate killer ready to make Emma's life go up in flames…,

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

First published March 28, 2011

About the author

Nancy Gotter Gates grew up in Columbus, Ohio where she began writing poetry almost as soon as she learned to read and write, publishing her first poem at age eight. Marriage, motherhood and positions as public relations director for a school district, Girl Scout council and regional library precluded writing anything but news releases and newsletters for many years.

Series:
* Tommi Poag Mystery
* Emma Daniels Mystery

Reviews

[Barbara]

Emma lives in Sarasota, FL, in a retirement complex of condos. She gets curious about the death of one of the men in the building who died while cooking. However, all of his many lady friends say he didn't cook. Emma starts looking into the mystery and that leads to problems with her love interest Cal, possible drug dealers, and the building manager. She also has her ex-daughter-in-law jump off the balcony.
There is a lot to this book which I found delightful. I have never read a mystery dealing with seniors. I really enjoyed the book.

[Cristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting into this book because the story takes place in a retirement community and the characters are all quite a bit older than me. It was an interesting book, though. The mystery was well thought out and the overall story was more sordid than I anticipated. I was expecting a fluff piece. What initially drew me to this book was that it's set in Florida, close to where I live, and the main character is from Ohio, where I grew up. It's a nice beach read. :)