Sweet Poison (Jane Lawless Series #16) » (First Edition)

Ellen Hart, “a top novelist in the cultishly popular gay mystery genre” (Entertainment Weekly), is also a Lambda and Minnesota Book Award winner. The author of sixteen mysteries featuring Jane Lawless, she lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit her at www.EllenHart.com.

Lambda and Minnesota Book Award–winning author Ellen Hart delivers another high-caliber mystery with Sweet Poison, her newest Lambda Award Finalist in a mystery series as loved for its delightful charm as for the absorbing psychological depth of its characters.

Jane Lawless is at her wit’s end keeping her Minneapolis restaurants running while volunteering on her father’s campaign for governor. With a solid lead, the race is Ray Lawless’s to lose, but that changes when his rival posts a list of criminals who are on the streets, thanks to Ray’s work as a defense lawyer. Corey Hodge is one of the ex-cons who took Ray’s advice to plead guilty for a crime he swears he didn’t commit, and revenge is never far from his mind. Then one of Ray’s volunteers is killed in such a way that mirrors the crime Corey was convicted of, and Jane must bring in the killer to save her father’s political career and to keep Corey from going to prison again.

The high stakes and intrigue that fuel Sweet Poison make for a gripping novel of ambition and obsession.

Publishers Weekly

In the juicy 16th Jane Lawless mystery (after 2007's The Mortal Groove), the lesbian restaurateur worries about her father Ray's upcoming bid for governor of Minnesota. Corey Hodge, a convicted rapist Ray once defended in court, has just been released from prison. Nursing a grudge, he volunteers at Ray's campaign headquarters until his identity is exposed. Life gets more intense after Corey becomes a suspect in the murder of one of Ray's top volunteers, Charity Miller. Charity was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend, who may have committed a hate crime against a gay United Methodist minister involved with a male campaign worker. Also causing Jane concern is the unexpected return from Africa of her ex-lover, Dr. Julia Martinsen. Julia plots to reignite her relationship with Jane, who's involved in a troubled long-distance relationship with Kenzie, a Nebraska professor. Hart fans will enjoy the many twists, both personal and criminal. (Nov.)

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