Veil of Night: A Novel

By Linda Howard

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In this thrilling novel of romantic suspense, Linda Howard cordially invites us to an elaborate wedding—one in which rings will never be exchanged, kisses will never be shared, and the bride will never see the light of day, because a killer has been waiting under a 
 
VEIL OF NIGHT

Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner who loves her job—usually. But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of mythic nastiness, yet the unpleasant task at hand turns seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another of doing the deed. Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that there’s too much evidence pointing toward too many suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, now a prime suspect, with whom he shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie’s death. As the heat intensifies between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride but one particularly irresistible wedding planner, unaware of a killer’s vow.


BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Linda Howard's Prey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9780345521965

Linda Howard

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, and Dying to Please. She lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

Reviews for Veil of Night

[icecream18 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This mystery-based novel was good, but left me thinking I didn't truly know the main characters. The murder weapons were kebob skewers, the characters didn't seem intense enough for a Linda Howard novel, and I though the mystery was too easy to solve. Other than those criticisms, I did like the book. It was definitely a quick-read, the characters weren't particularly memorable. I would recommend this book to adults/young adults (females).

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When bridezilla gets skewered after a violent encounter with her wedding planner, Detective Eric Wilder has no choice but to question said wedding planner. Which is a tad awkward, considering they hooked up the night before. He may not consider Jaclyn Wilde a serious suspect, but someone else seems determined to make her a serious target. Keeping her alive means tracking down the real killer. Keeping her safe may mean losing his heart.Not Howard's strongest, but the characters are likeable and the weddings are certainly entertaining.

[annakay21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such a fun book! I really liked the story and it reminded me of 'To Die For' and 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' which are my favorite of her books. Definitely like the fact that she's writing fun books again instead of 'serious' ones like the last few. I haven't been able to read a book of hers since 'Death Angel' and actually enjoy it. One star has been deducted for the obviousness of who the killer and his accomplice are.....not really much of a mystery. My favorite part of this book was what would happen every time Detective Wilde tried to go out for a cup of coffee! Too hilarious for words.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This one was nearly a 4, the couple in this story sparked off each other well, but in some ways it felt a bit rushed, still a good story.Jaclyn Wilde is an event planner, mostly weddings and one of her weddings is with a bride who isn't much liked, when that bride turns up dead after an argument Jaclyn is one of the suspects, and Jacob Wilder, the detective has to investigate her thoroughly, to keep everything above board, he probably shouldn't be investigating but the other detective in the area is on holidays. The intrusion into her life irritates Jaclyn, but Jacob is getting under her skin and she's not sure she wants to run away.Things get complicated when the killer turns his attention on Jaclyn.I liked it, the two were great fun and I appreciated why Jacob had to be so thorough. An enjoyable romance with thriller aspects.

[readinggeek451 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Event planner Jaclyn Wilde and police detective Eric Wilder have an instant attraction when they run into each other. But the bridezilla from hell derails their budding relationship.Fun and sexy.

[clodaughp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a classic Linda Howard book with amusing repartee between main characters: Jaclyn Wilde and Eric Wilder; and several of the supporting characters. It's sexy, funny and exciting. I enjoyed it and couldn't put it down.

[sockmonkeygirl_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So close! Linda Howard, you were so close to being good again. Sigh. I have been disappointed in her last few books, mostly because I felt like they could have been short stories with characters who never really seemed concrete. This one started out with promise as Jaclyn and Eric meet, are immediately attracted and have some fun scenes. Then there is a murder and I felt like the rest of the book was Howard, describing, not showing, how her characters felt and reacted. It lacked the genuine emotion, fire and humor that I always enjoyed in her books. As always, the mystery was relatively simple to solve.

[dawn772 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An entertaining romantic suspense that started out slow but once the action got going it really picked up. I thought the relationship could have had more romance but overall it was a good read. Wedding planner Jacyln is fired by bridezilla who turns up dead and detective Eric is assigned to the case.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eric Wilder and Jaclyn Wilde meet when she is at the police station to pay a speeding ticket. She literally runs right into him. They are attracted but go on about their day. Eric is a police detective and Jaclyn is an event planner. They meet again later that evening when she happens to stop into a cop bar to get a drink to unwind from a tough day. Sparks fly, the conversation flows, and, ultimately, they wind up having a one-night stand. He leaves in the morning promising to call her in a week of so when her stretch of six weddings in five days is over.Jaclyn has a meeting with one of the worst bridezillas ever the next day. Carrie Edwards is marrying the son of a state senator and is determined to have a perfect wedding. Unfortunately she is just mean and seems to delight in throwing everyone else into chaos. She wants new bridesmaid dresses custom made with only a month to go. She doesn't like the flowers. She won't make a decisions about the food. Jaclyn has to try to soothe the venders and pacify the bride. Carrie has a tantrum, slaps Jaclyn across the face and fires her company. Jaclyn is angry and upset. Not about being fired, because she has hated working for Carrie and knows that they will still be collecting most of their contracted fess, but because she so badly wanted to hit Carrie back. Next thing she knows, someone has killed Carrie by stabbing her with multiple kebob skewers and she is the number one suspect. Eric is assigned to the case and has to act professionally to clear her name which makes her very angry and hurt. Eric doesn't want the investigation to put a stop to their new romance and thinks that the quickest way to get back to the romance is to clear her name as convincingly as possible.It turns out the Jaclyn saw the probable murderer as she was leaving the meeting with Carrie. She was so upset and angry that she didn't really notice him other than that he was a grey-haired man driving some kind of silver car. Eric investigates Carrie's murder by interviewing her family and friends and discovers that quite a number of people want her dead. His fears that the murder will come after Jaclyn for fear that she recognized him are realized when Jaclyn becomes a near victim of a drive-by shooting.Besides the intense action, there are some really nice moments of humor in this one. Eric has had the recent bad luck of stopping for coffee two mornings in a row and foiling attempted robberies at each location. In neither case did he take down the criminal with his gun. More humor comes when Jaclyn is doing wedding planning for a hillbilly wedding and trying to help the mother of the groom keep it from being a complete fiasco.This was a fun and intense romantic suspense novel. I enjoyed it very much.

[cranberrytarts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel was much more reminiscent of the Linda Howard I feel in love with almost a decade ago. The writing was cleaner and I didn't feel like I was reading an instruction manual. However, I also feel like she's already done this...a cop who has to interrogate his latest flame over the murder of her client...I wish Howard had been a little more original. I was also somewhat disappointed in the hero. He was so unapologetic. I can handle that in some circumstances, but here I felt he needed more grovel time. Much like Dane in Dream Man, which isn't a good thing (I hated Dane).

Having said that, I enjoyed much of it. I breezed right through the novel in a few hours and had no trouble falling into the story. I hope this is a sign that Howard is on her way back. I've missed her.

[lacello · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a pretty typical Linda Howard work.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Typical Linda Howard story, characters reminiscent of a few others of hers, but as I haven't read her for a long time, I didn't really mind. Quite funny, in places, and entertaining.

[steph1203-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome book! A wonderful and quick read that made me laugh

[treehousereader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

DESCRIPTION, NOT REVIEW: Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner who loves her job—usually. But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of mythic nastiness, yet the unpleasant task at hand turns seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another of doing the deed. Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that there’s too much evidence pointing toward too many suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, now a prime suspect, with whom he shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie’s death. As the heat intensifies between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride but one particularly irresistible wedding planner, unaware of a killer’s vow.

[christineellei · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner whose latest client is the poster child for the term “bridezilla”. When the bride ends up dead after a food tasting everyone is on the suspect list.

A light, fun read that I did enjoy.

[phyllis2779 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was an OK book. The plot was on the strange side -- the murder was done by kebob skewers. Other than the romantic protagonists' relationship, there wasn't much of any note going on.