Motown Mysteries.com
Vanishing Act
Book Two:
The Jamie Richmond Mystery Series
Book Three:
Fleeing Beauty
A discovery of priceless artwork leads Jamie on a collision course with danger.
Jamie Richmond used to live a nice, quiet life. But last fall she witnessed the shooting of a police officer and figured out who did it. Then this winter saw her best friend targeted by a stalker and kidnapped. Yep, Jamie solved that one and came to the rescue. Now it’s summertime and the living is supposed to be easy. All she wants to do is write her novels and spend free time with Malone, the guy who has been by her side since all this craziness began. But that’s not likely to happen.
Jamie’s father was a very successful sculptor who tragically died more than twenty years ago when she was just a child. What she remembers about him is little more than bits and pieces. A storeroom filled with crates of his work is discovered in an old converted factory. This potential fortune in artwork has been waiting all these years.
Jamie recruits Malone and a few close friends to help her unpack the crates and bring her father’s gifts out to the light of day. News of this discovery leads to a robbery. Now Jamie is determined to figure out who is behind the crime.
What Readers Are Saying!
Jamie, the star of Mark Love's Fleeing Beauty (2016), a Jamie Richmond Mystery, is a talented author with a tight schedule, a hot boyfriend, and close friends who love her attention. As good as she is as a writer, her talent is vastly overshadowed--even in death--by the inspirational and charismatic sculptures of her biological father. To everyone's surprise, long after his death, a hidden workshop is discovered, filled with never-seen-before pieces of his art that are worth millions. It falls to Jamie and her jet-setting mother to catalog the work, secure it, and decide what to do with it.
Though Jamie will inherit her father's multi-million dollar estate when she's 35, she performs the work more to get to know a father she never knew. With each piece, she digs a bit deeper into his background, his personal history, and what made him tick. What she really craves to understand is why he was always so distant during his life and whether he ever loved his only daughter.
Following Jamie as she documents every step of this massive collection while juggling a writing career and a full life kept me turning pages. The pacing is excellent, no wasted words, the story always moving forward with interesting tidbits that add to the characters, ultimately growing into a mystery that could cost lives.
My only complaint--and what cost the book half a point--was that I had trouble identifying its goal, understanding its theme, and therefore applying a genre to it. I know, that doesn't sound like a big deal--I agree. It has oodles of romance (really, tons of it, lots more than I am comfortable reading in the cozy romances I gravitate toward; but it's healthy romance--R-rated, not X) but without the plot characteristics of that genre. It hints at a mystery early in the story but that became more of a subplot until the end. The story is mostly Jamie's journey to get to know her dead father, peeling back layers as she explores his unknown artwork.
Overall, a well-constructed novel with interesting characters, fascinating information about the art world, and an enjoyable read.
​~Jacqui Murray
Great Mystery Romance In book 3 of the Jamie Richmond Mystery series, Jamie learns that a cache of her late father’s sculpture has been discovered. He was already famous when alive but has become even more so in the years following his death. Now Jamie and her estranged, globe-trotting mother have to catalog this incredible and expensive find and then figure out what to do with it. Then one of the sculptures is stolen, and not only is Jamie and her cop boyfriend Malone on a quest to find it, she also wants to uncover the secrets of her father’s past and answer some questions that’s plagued her for years.
Jamie and Malone are wonderful, three-dimensional characters. They fit well together both in and out of the bedroom, and I loved how much they supported each other. Even though I liked them a lot, I found it a little annoying that he refused to tell her his first name and that she made a game out of trying to guess it. I just didn’t understand that part.
My favorite secondary character is Bert, Jamie’s stepfather. I loved how close she was to him especially since she wasn’t close to her own father before he died.
I haven’t read the previous books in the series, and that’s okay. This book stands well on its own, and those other stories were alluded to just enough to clear up any possible questions.
If you’re in the mood for a smart mystery with lots of steam, Fleeing Beauty should handle that craving.
~Amazon Customer
Mark Love is a amazing writer.. I can't wait to read the next in this series. Jamie and Malone are wonderful together. ​~Nancy Brutsche
Mystery Might Stump You! Unlike Devious, I didn't completely solve the mystery of who stole the sculpture,"Spring Dance". I was only 1/2 correct due to a couple of surprise guests. Even the characters in the story were like --- Who the %*#! are these guys?
Talk about throwing us a curveball!
I will say, before the story ends, Mark will explain almost everything. Jamie still needs to solve the puzzle box left to her by her deceased father, and we still don't know Malone's first name.
I will say this, after their near death experience, he started to tell her and she stopped him.
I could NOT believe it. Mark, you are such tease. ;)
This is one of those times I wish these weren't fictional characters. If they weren't, I would ask Malone to whisper it to me.... Nice and slow... *winks* ~Kam Brook
Complex and Entertaining Mr. Love has written a complex and entertaining piece of fiction that is easily one of the most remarkable books I’ve read in this genre. His writing is snarky, evocative, and smart. The mystery that drives this story is fascinating, yet equally shares time with a few strong subplots, which makes it even more fun to read. Although each character is given plenty of page time to allow you to get to know them, the protagonist is by far the most intriguing of the group.
Jamie Richmond is an emotionally and intellectually complex female character. She is one part writer (who doesn’t love that?), one part super-sleuth, one part business woman, one part daughter, one part mother, one part best friend, and one part strong romantic lead. Her story is interesting, not just because she’s a successful detective of her circumstances, but because she is genuinely human about all of it. She is passionate about her love life, and equally passionate about her devotion to her father and the legacy he left behind.
The pacing of this book is extraordinary. I read it in just three days, enjoying the tease of each character’s story. They all move together as in a well-choreographed Irish stepdance, one never getting ahead of the others nor the music of the plotline. Each character spends time in the spotlight, but not so much that we are distracted away from the ensemble. The entire company pushed their own arcs with dynamic growth, without interfering with the momentum of the mystery. Best of all, there’s a dog among the cast… and that’s always a good thing.
This book is heavy with steamy seduction, but not to the point of losing the pacing or the intelligence of the narrative. Mark does an excellent job of delicately balancing the elements of adult romance, new teen-age love, and a mystery that keeps you guessing. This is the third book of the series, but I had no difficulty following the characters or the story, even though I hadn’t read the other two. The narrative teases the previous mysteries, but never gives them away. I didn’t feel lost without the details of the previous books, and I am now tremendously curious to investigate the earlier mysteries. Nothing has been ruined for me by reading the book out of sequence. However, I was left with a few questions taunting my imagination, but that’s what I want from a great mystery writer. I am hopeful that there will be another Jamie Richmond Mystery, so perhaps I can get those riddles solved.
If you seek out books that offer equal parts steamy romance and intelligent empathy, while keeping you mysteriously on your toes, this is a story you will thoroughly enjoy. ​~Diana Kathryn Penn