Arabesque, $5.99, ISBN 1-58314-266-5
Romantic Suspense, 2002

If I were more anal, I’ll take Courtni Wright to task for writing a romance where the romance is in the backseat as opposed to the suspense part in the forefront. But Uncovered Passion, while not exactly a slick, sophisticated crime thriller, is still an engaging read.

Denise Dory is one of the best detective in the country, and she is assigned to a special team of investigators hot on the trail of someone/organization who is (are?) killing off Washington politicians one by one. As the whole mystery thing escalates, she and her ex-partner Tom Phyfer realize that their feelings may run deeper than mutual respect. They orgasm together as they find new clues to the mystery. Or something. If there is a romance, I’m sure it’s in here. Somewhere. After all, Tom is left behind in Maryland while Denise heads off to Capitol Hill. The distance between them alone is a hindrance to any decently developed romance.

But the author cheats by saying that those two realize their undercurrent sexual tension way before this story starts. Okay, I’ll buy that, because the story keeps me turning the pages. There are obvious blunders: for a top-notch investigation team, the team here makes some very stupid mistakes and Denise spends time explaining some basic investigative procedures to “experts”, procedures even an occasional CSI fan will know.

Nonetheless, Ms Wright spins a satisfying romantic suspense here. Uncovered Passion may be misleading in the passion part, but I think Ms Wright may have uncovered her niche in writing outright thriller stuff.