Red Hot Lies

By Laura Caldwell

Usually I pride myself on my intuition. I listen to that voice that says, “Something bad is appening…” or maybe “Get out. Now. ”

But on that Tuesday at the end of October, my psyche must have been protecting the one remaining day I still believed life was orderly and the universe liked me. Because I didn’t hear that voice. I never saw it coming. They say bad things happen in threes. When her fiancé, Sam, disappears on the same day her mentor and biggest client is killed, hotshot Chicago attorney Izzy McNeil starts counting. But trouble keeps coming. Sam is implicated in the client’s death, her apartment is broken into and it’s not just the authorities who are following her.

Now, to find Sam and uncover her client’s murderer, Izzy will have to push past limits she never imagined. Luckily for her she’s always thrived under pressure, because her world is falling apart. Fast. And the trail of half-truths and lies is red-hot.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jul 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781408937105

Laura Caldwell

Laura Caldwell, who lives in Chicago with her husband, left a successful career as a trial attorney to become a novelist. She is the author of Burning the Map, which was selected by Barnes & Noble.com as one of "The Best of 2002" and A Clean Slate, which received a starred review from Booklist, as well as The Year of Living Famously, The Night I Got Lucky and a novel of suspense, Look Closely. She is a contributing editor at Lake Magazine and an adjunct professor of law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Reviews for Red Hot Lies

[pattylee-621744 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good. Character development AND plot. I will definitely be reading the next in the series.

[krystalsbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was great. I have already started reading the second book in the series. Izzy is a strong women who had to deal with some difficult information but makes every attempt to keep her life together.

[caitemaire · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this book, the first in a new mystery trilogy, everything in Izzy McNeil's life seems to be going right. Although she is a fairly new associate at her law firm, she has been fortunate enough to have become the lead entertainment attorney for Pickett Enterprises and millionaire radio station mogul, Forester Pickett. He is more than just her client, but a friend and a mentor and in fact, the one that introduced her to fiance. And in just a few weeks she and her handsome love, Sam Hollings, will be walking down the aisle.But then, of course, things start to fall apart. First, Sam does not show up for a dinner engagement, and calling everyone they know all night, she can't find where he has gotten to. Then she gets the call that her number one client is dead, from an apparent heart attack. Finally, it appears that Sam has disappeared with over 30 million dollars in Panamanian bonds that belonged to Pickett. Before you know it, the police and the FBI are at Izzy's door, but since they do not seem very interested in her claim that Pickett was receiving threats, Izzy herself will have to get involved in investigating what happened.This is not a great book, but it is not a bad book either. The book is well written and the plot is pretty good, even if I think it could have been edited to a tighter, shorter, and better story. And there are some good characters, most of then minor. The detective Izzy hires to try and find Sam and figure out what happened, P.I. John Mayburn, her best friend Maggie, a lawyer who loves defending her drug dealers clients and a very short appearance by her brother Charlie, who lives to read his books and drink his wine. I started to wish one of them was the central characters, because the largest problem I had with this book is that it rests firmly on the shoulders of "Red Hot" Izzy and I can't say that I really liked her a whole lot. As a lawyer, she seems totally out of her depth...as a fiance, she was amazing fast to except the possibility that the supposed love of her life was a thief and maybe a murderer. Without giving too much away, let's say loyalty is not her real strength.Sort of chick-lit meets murder mystery that might, if the weather was not getting a bit too chilly, make a nice beach read

[scoutlee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Red Hot Lies is the first book in the Izzy McNeil trilogy. I’ve read two of her suspense novels, Look Closely and The Rome Affair, and enjoyed them both. When I heard she was writing a new trilogy, I immediately added the titles to my TBR List.At first glance, life appears to be going well for Izzy McNeil. She’s an entertainment lawyer working for one of the richest men in Chicago, Forester Pickett. She’s planning her wedding with her successful and gorgeous, fiancé Sam. She’s feisty, beautiful and is satisfied with how things are in her life. Until one evening when several bad things happen in a row that cause Izzy’s life to spin rapidly out of control.Izzy is a character that I liked from page one. Ms. Caldwell did an excellent character portrayal of Izzy, that it seemed as though she was a friend. I immediately pictured her in my mind and rooted for her as she scrambled to find the truth behind Sam’s disappearance and Forester’s murder.Red Hot Lies is a good, solid mystery. It kept me engrossed until the ending. There’s twists and turns and plenty of suspects. Red Hot Lies did not disappoint. The good news is books two and three, Red Blooded Murder and Red, White & Dead, are now available and I’m looking forward to reading what happens next with Izzy.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Attorney Izzy McNeil is about to get married. Izzy and her fiancé, Sam Hollings are finalizing all of their wedding plans, when Sam vanishes without a trace. Izzy can't figure out why Sam would up and leave without saying anything to her. Forester Pickett is owner and CEO of Pickett Enterprises, a huge corporation. Recently Forester has been investing in real estate property in Panama. Izzy receives a phone call from Mr. Pickett's son, Shane. His father has passed away of a heart attack. Izzy can't believe it. Just two weeks ago, Izzy and Forester were talking about how healthy he was. He had recently had a bunch of tests done and the results were negative. Though Forester told Izzy that he had been recently receiving threatening messages. He told Izzy that if someone were to happen to him that she should suspect foul play. Now Forester is dead and thirty million dollars worth of real estate shares have gone missing from Pickett Enterprises. Surprisedly, Sam was in charge of safe keeping the shares and we know what happened there. Obviously Sam killed Forester and took off with the shares. At first Izzy doesn't want to believe Sam could murder anyone but the deeper she digs, she realizes that she may not know Sam as well as she thought she did. Izzy McNeil is one tough cookie. She doesn't give up till the job is done. No matter how high the stakes are stacked aganist her. Red Hot Lies has a interesting plot that will keep you on your toes till the very last page. When I first saw that ony of my favorite authors Laura Caldwell was releasing this new trilogy, I get knew I had to check it out. I am happy to report that this book did not disppoint. MS. Caldwell has such an amazing range of talent. Everything she writes is a winner in my book...from chick lit stories to international suspense thrillers. I can't wait to visit with Izzy again.