Vera Hart has it all: a cosmetics empire along with international recognition as the authority in taste, style, and domestic bliss; a devoted daughter; and adulation and acclaim from a legion of fans. But this world is about to come crashing down around her. First, someone is sabotaging her company. Next, her enemies move in and surround her. And then someone begins to kill using the most insidious means possible---cosmetics that bear Vera's name.
Martie Phelps is estranged from Vera, her mother. A military doctor in the first Gulf war, Martie has scars and demons she holds close. As a single mother, all she wants is a quiet life with her daughter. Now the glamorous, complicated Vera Hart is making overtures to her: Vera wants Martie back in her life.
Greta Hart wants her sister, Martie, to stay gone. Greta has always been the dutiful daughter whom Vera has taken for granted. The current crisis is helping Vera pull Martie closer. And Greta doesn't like it.
All three women are searching for answers. Who wants to bring down Vera Hart? How intense can a rivalry between estranged sisters get? And when will the killer strike next? Suspenseful, compelling, peopled with the multifaceted women who are Doris Mortman's trademark, Shades of Red is a page-turner of the first order.
From The Critics
Poison lipstick! Bitchy, beauteous tycoons! Decadent playboys! Just in case no one wants to read about such fun things, there's also a noble assistant DA (a flyboy in the first Gulf War) who pines for a dedicated cancer researcher with a heart of gold (also a Gulf vet). Yes, Mortman is back (Before and Again, 2003, etc.) with another improbable suspenser and the usual machine-gunned adjectives and tons of turgid prose. Meet the CEO of Hart Line International, a cold-as-ice hybrid of Estee Lauder, Martha Stewart, and Elizabeth Taylor. Look into Vera Hart's eyes, if you can stand it. "Not a pure sapphire blue nor an absolute emerald green . . . nor the bleached-out green of a backyard pool overdosed with chlorine. They were pure aquamarine gems: rich and precious and mesmerizing." Vera Hart-former movie star, self-made woman, neglectful mother-now runs a cosmetics/lifestyle/gourmet-coffee empire worth zillions and even has her own TV slot, where she shows America how to pipe meringue out of an icing gun. But it's not good when Vera discovers that someone's been cooking the books at HLI. Worse: someone's tainted a batch of her famous Valentine Red lipstick with mercuric chloride. A disgruntled employee? Why, everyone loves Vera-or maybe not. Bryan Chalmers, assistant DA, takes the case. There's a personal connection: Dr. Martie Phelps, Vera's daughter, an urban ER doc and skin-cancer researcher and single mom (whew!), is his former lover. Martie can't forget her torrid affair with Bryan-and is all the more vulnerable because she still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder thanks to her hostage ordeal years ago under Iraqi baddies. No one really understands her but Bryan . . . GretaHart, Vera's other daughter, sure as hell doesn't. She resents her brilliant sister and hates the idea that her mother is trying to mend fences with Martie by making her a Hart Foundation honoree. So who poisoned the lipstick? Turn, turn, turn the pages. . . . Lots to chew on, if you're a fan.
Martie Phelps is estranged from Vera, her mother. A military doctor in the first Gulf war, Martie has scars and demons she holds close. As a single mother, all she wants is a quiet life with her daughter. Now the glamorous, complicated Vera Hart is making overtures to her: Vera wants Martie back in her life.
Greta Hart wants her sister, Martie, to stay gone. Greta has always been the dutiful daughter whom Vera has taken for granted. The current crisis is helping Vera pull Martie closer. And Greta doesn't like it.
All three women are searching for answers. Who wants to bring down Vera Hart? How intense can a rivalry between estranged sisters get? And when will the killer strike next? Suspenseful, compelling, peopled with the multifaceted women who are Doris Mortman's trademark, Shades of Red is a page-turner of the first order.
From The Critics
Poison lipstick! Bitchy, beauteous tycoons! Decadent playboys! Just in case no one wants to read about such fun things, there's also a noble assistant DA (a flyboy in the first Gulf War) who pines for a dedicated cancer researcher with a heart of gold (also a Gulf vet). Yes, Mortman is back (Before and Again, 2003, etc.) with another improbable suspenser and the usual machine-gunned adjectives and tons of turgid prose. Meet the CEO of Hart Line International, a cold-as-ice hybrid of Estee Lauder, Martha Stewart, and Elizabeth Taylor. Look into Vera Hart's eyes, if you can stand it. "Not a pure sapphire blue nor an absolute emerald green . . . nor the bleached-out green of a backyard pool overdosed with chlorine. They were pure aquamarine gems: rich and precious and mesmerizing." Vera Hart-former movie star, self-made woman, neglectful mother-now runs a cosmetics/lifestyle/gourmet-coffee empire worth zillions and even has her own TV slot, where she shows America how to pipe meringue out of an icing gun. But it's not good when Vera discovers that someone's been cooking the books at HLI. Worse: someone's tainted a batch of her famous Valentine Red lipstick with mercuric chloride. A disgruntled employee? Why, everyone loves Vera-or maybe not. Bryan Chalmers, assistant DA, takes the case. There's a personal connection: Dr. Martie Phelps, Vera's daughter, an urban ER doc and skin-cancer researcher and single mom (whew!), is his former lover. Martie can't forget her torrid affair with Bryan-and is all the more vulnerable because she still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder thanks to her hostage ordeal years ago under Iraqi baddies. No one really understands her but Bryan . . . GretaHart, Vera's other daughter, sure as hell doesn't. She resents her brilliant sister and hates the idea that her mother is trying to mend fences with Martie by making her a Hart Foundation honoree. So who poisoned the lipstick? Turn, turn, turn the pages. . . . Lots to chew on, if you're a fan.
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