Audiobook Review: Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell

Blue Smoke and Murder
Author: Elizabeth Lowell

Narrator: Carol Monda
Series: St. Kilda (Book 4)
Publication: Avon; Reprint edition (July 8, 2008); Harper Audio (May 27, 2008)

Length: 11 hours and 16 minutes

Description: Jill Breck was just doing her job as a river guide when she saved the life of the son of two of St. Kilda Consulting’s premier operators. But when a string of ominous events -- including a mysterious fire that kills her great-aunt and a furor in the Western art world raised by a dozen Breck family paintings -- culminates in a threat to her life, Jill finally calls in a favor.

Zach Balfour works part-time as a consultant for St. Kilda. Though he’s got the skills to be a highly effective bodyguard, being a bullet catcher isn't his preferred way to spend time. But Jill is in deeper waters than she’s ever known, and she’ll need his protection; as she soon discovers, the perils of running wild rivers are tame compared with the hidden dangers in the high-stakes game of art collecting. Together, Zach and Jill must race against time to unmask a ruthless killer hidden in the blue smoke of money, threats, lies, and death. . . .

My Thoughts: This romantic suspense title is the fourth in the St Kilda series. Jill Breck is a river guide who meets Lane and Joe Faroe when they go whitewater rafting under her direction. When Lane falls out of the raft and gets a strap from his life vest caught, Jill jumps in and saves him. Joe gives her a card with a phone number for St Kilda and tells her to call if she ever finds herself in danger. 

Jill saves the card but can't imagine ever needing the help. Then her great aunt dies under suspicious circumstances leaving Jill the family legacy of twelve paintings believed to be the work of Thomas Dunstan who was a famous artist known for his paintings of the desert Southwest. Unfortunately, the paintings aren't signed. Her aunt had sent one of the paintings for appraisal to a noted art dealer who wrote back that the painting was a worthless forgery. But then someone calls to offer her money for the "worthless" painting, then breaks in to find the other paintings, and kills her burning down her house and barn to hide the evidence. 

Jill comes back to the isolated ranch to find the paintings in a secret room of the cabin she grew up in. She decides to take photos and send them to some dealers to find out if their opinions are the same as the dealer her aunt had used. When Jill's inquiries stir up trouble including vandalizing her car and leaving threatening notes, she decides that it is time to call St Kilda.

Zach Balfour is the nearest St Kilda employee. He's just off a case where he was guarding the air-headed daughter of a Texas millionaire and hopes Jill isn't another of the same sort. Jill couldn't be more different and the threats to her life are real. 

As they investigate the provenance of the paintings and determine who wants to deny their existence, they find themselves deep in the world of art collecting and all the maneuvering that is part of it from shady dealers to shady collectors. 

This was another excellent romantic suspense title. I liked the relationship between Jill and Zach. I also liked all the tension and suspense in the story. 

I bought the Kindle copy July 16, 2024, and added on the audiobook November 19, 2024. You can buy your copy here.