Blood moon

Sandra Brown's readers know what she's up to. Her seventy-plus novels, mostly romance and suspense, often contain sly parodies of pop genres. Her current offering begins with a familiar scene: a lawman enters a saloon, orders a drink, and pays no mind to the jeers of the boozed-up yahoos nearby. Brown invites the reader to grin knowingly, only for the scene to turn wonky. The story unfolds from there: a female producer of a true-crime TV show visits Auclair, Louisiana, for a story on unsolved cases of disappearing teenage girls. She finds herself sharing notes with a local cop scarred by betrayal--his boss once wanted a case wrapped quickly: he obeyed, even though he knew it betrayed the victims. Why? He wanted in on the promotion track and its promised a pay increase. Such shots of realism keep the novel anchored in the everyday, as do bursts of nice writing and a couple of steamy sex scenes. The story reminds us what a fine writer Brown is.

In this solid erotic thriller, bestseller Brown (Out of Nowhere) entwines a sexy love story with the search for a killer. Detective John Bowie of the Auclair, La., police department is known among his colleagues for his strong opinions. His vocal doubts about the arrest of Billy Oliver, a young Black man, in the disappearance of 18-year-old Crissy Mellin--which led to Oliver's suicide--has put Bowie in direct conflict with his superior officer, Lt. Tom Barker. Three and a half years after Oliver's death, a still-haunted Bowie is approached by Beth Collins, producer for the popular true crime show Crisis Point. Beth is developing an episode based on what she believes could be major evidence tying Crissy's abduction to a series of similar crimes, all of which occurred under blood moons. After Bowie agrees to help Beth relitigate Crissy's case, Barker fires him, giving Bowie the freedom to handle things on his own terms. From their first meeting, Bowie's and Beth's chemistry is palpable, and Brown peppers their sleuthing with plenty of steamy sex scenes. The investigation itself feels a little rote, but Brown's fans will get exactly what they came for. Agent: Maria Carvainis, Maria Carvainis Agency. (Mar.)