The Chilling Deception - a Guinevere Jones novel (Book 2)

I hope this series does not make the same mistake Moonlighting and Remington Steele did back in the '80s.  Part of the attraction for both of those shows was the sexual tension between the two lead characters, with the constant question of "will they?" or "won't they?"  The moment the writers put the leads together in a relationship, the shows faltered and were ultimately cancelled (and while I'm sure there were other reasons for the cancellation as well, I believe a big part of it was removing that tension).  With the Guinevere Jones series, a large chunk of the enjoyment in the first book was how reminiscent it was of the early seasons of both Moonlighting and Remington Steele.  The female and male leads clearly had some attraction, but they were also always at odds with one another, having completely different styles for getting their jobs done.  This is exactly what author Jayne Castle has crafted here with Guinevere Jones and Zachariah Justis.  I just hope this book is not the beginning of the end for that relationship...

 

The Chilling Deception takes place some weeks after the events of the first book. Zac is between jobs in his security business, but Guinevere has a rather posh position as a temporary secretary for Edward Vandyke, the owner and founder of Vandyke Development.  But Gwen is concerned something is off with her boss.  He has been overly concerned about an upcoming business deal and trusts no one around him.  He has also been fighting with his wife, and he has shown signs of agitation and nervousness.  The final straw for Gwen is when she finds a gold-plated gun in Vandyke's personal executive restroom just off of his office.  Something is amiss, and she is concerned for the man.  So, when he asks her to go to the San Juan Islands for the final business meeting that will seal the deal with Washburn, she convinces him to hire Zac for his security, to protect the briefcase that contains all of his important papers for the deal.  Zac is hesitant at first, but the thought of a weekend on an island with Guinevere is too much temptation to say no.

 

Castle (also known as Jayne Ann Krentz) builds the mystery rather slowly.  Guinevere and Zac make the trip to the San Juan Islands with Vandyke, with Zac set up in a room next to Vandyke, and Gwen in a room further down the hall.  It's apparent from the get-go that Vandyke is concerned about more than just the papers in his briefcase, since he fairly well demands Zac remain close to him at all times.  They begin to suspect he fears someone may be targeting him.  Is the business deal really so important that someone would want to kill him?  Only one way to find out, Zac reasons, so he opens the briefcase - and inside, he and Gwen find a flight log for one of Vandyke's business planes from way back when he and his partner, Gannon, ran a courier service to the islands.  The only problem is, the last trip logged in by Gannon on the list was dated after Gannon died!  So, how does a dead man make a delivery flight?  It is at this point that the story starts to heat up.

 

Is a dead man coming after his former partner?  Is someone in this whole business deal not who they say they are?  And why would anyone want to go through Gwen's hotel room when she is ... ahem ... otherwise engaged in Zac's room?  The suspects are plentiful.  There is Washburn.  And Washburn's personal assistant, Springer.  And the local pilot named Cassidy, who has taken a liking to Gwen.  And then there is that mysterious person following Vandyke, who keeps to the shadows and disappears before Zac can get a bead on him.  The deal gets made, the weekend comes to a close, and everything appears to have gone off without a hitch.  Until the next morning, when Vandyke disappears.  And Zac finds out some startling information about the accident that supposedly took Gannon's life  And Vandyke's wife reveals something even more important to Gwen about her husband's past.  It all comes to an exciting climax as Gwen and Zac face off on an isolated, uninhabited against an unscrupulous man who is out for revenge and will stop at nothing to get it!

 

Castle, according to her bio at the back of the book, resides in Seattle, Washington, so it makes sense that her stories are set there - write what you know!  The San Juan Islands are, indeed, a real locality located about 70 - 90 miles northwest of Seattle, and, like in the story, you can get to the islands by ferry or plane.  There are plenty of uninhabited islands, ranging in size, so the one such as Castle uses in her story likely exists.  

 

The conclusion to this story takes place a couple of chapters before the book actually ends.  The last two chapters give readers an epilogue of sorts - first, an opportunity for Guinevere and Zachariah to come to terms with the scope and direction of their relationship; and the second, a scenario that appears to be a set up for the next book (at least, I hope, because I like the character this chapter introduces!).  The first book merely gave a previous of the first chapter of this book; but this one seems to have integrated the "preview" into the actual story - sort of like a television episode that wants to provide a lead-in to the next week's episode!

 

The cover art is gorgeous, even with Gwen's very '80s teased hairstyle.  The scene appears to meld some of the story elements together - from the all-important briefcase, to the wooded area of the island, to the fun in Zac's hand (which actually never takes place, since Zac does not carry a gun with him in the story, and when he's fighting the villain, he knocks the gun away and does not pick it up).  I love how the artist has the rays of sunlight streaming through the trees, which gives the scene a rather chilling effect.  The cover has the artist's signature:  CLIFF MILLER. This is a pleasant surprise, as Miller provided cover art for a number of the Nancy Drew Files back in the 1990s (and I actually own several of his paintings that were used for those covers!).  

 

RATING:  9 pairs of nylon panty hose with runs in them out of 10 for a tale filled with intrigue, mistaken identities, and a great soap-opera style return from the dead story!