Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
Recovering from a beating he felt he deserved for cheating with his boss' wife, rodeo star Billy Blue Bear learns his grandmother is dying. Though barely able to walk, he leaves the Cheyenne hospital and takes the bus to Elko, Nevada to pay his respects to his beloved Sophie. However, his grandmother asks him to grant her dying wish. He must regain a Van Gogh painting from his father, a man Billy never met who lives on St. Margaret Island in the West Indies.
New York art curator Zoe Martin needs to escape from the stalking of her husband Ahmed Cherif as their divorce date comes closer. She accepts a job with Victorian International to serve as curator to Simon Van Biers' art collection. However, she also has an opportunity to recover the lost Van Gogh her grandfather brought to Europe and allegedly is in the Van Biers collection.
When Billy Blue and Zoe meet sparks fly as each claim their relative owns the original. Still, they work in tandem investigating the paintings, the murder of a renowned art critic even as the Van Biers seem dangerously split between the father on one side and his wife and his son on the other.
HOODWINKED is an enjoyable romantic suspense novel that centers on the Van Gogh "Sunflower" paintings. The story line is fun to read once Billy and Zoe meet, as they become embroiled in a who-done-it, fake and authentic paintings, and the mystery of love. R.J. Kaiser always turns up the suspense along with the love with this powerful drama.