ILL-TIMED ENTANGLEMENTS (The Kate Huntington mystery series #2) (37 page)

Unfortunately, the case Rob describes in Chapter 4 (the woman convicted of murder when she was fending off a rapist) is based on a very real case in Pennsylvania in the late 1980’s. In that case, it was actually
over
a decade before she was pardoned and her daughter was sixteen; this poor woman missed out on her child’s entire childhood while she was imprisoned for defending herself.

I totally enjoyed the time I spent researching Lancaster for this book. The Travel Lodge (with its Indian restaurant), Florentino’s and Denny’s are strung out along Columbia Avenue on the western side of town, and there is a Home Depot on US 30. However, while Lancaster abounds with retirement communities, The Villages retirement center is a total figment of my imagination.

My special thanks to the Amish family (although I’m sure they will never read this) whose buggy pulled out down the block from me on Columbia Avenue, and thus gave me the idea for Skip’s envious moment.

K
ate Huntington is continuing to hold Skip Canfield at arm’s length–insisting they go on ‘non-dates’ as friends only–as she prepares to return to the career she loves. Her enthusiasm is soon tarnished, however, when anonymous notes start appearing at the counseling center where she works.

As these missives become more and more disturbing, Kate encounters a second nightmare. She is being sued for allegedly planting false memories in the mind of one of her clients. Even her closest friend, lawyer Rob Franklin, has several misconceptions about this controversial issue. But despite the friction this causes, he still insists that he will represent her.

Soon, however, his legal counsel is needed for more than a malpractice suit, when Kate becomes a murder suspect! Rob may not understand the nature of traumatic memory but he is certainly going to do his damnedest to keep his friend from going to prison.

Meanwhile the sender of the anonymous notes has upped the ante and is now threatening the children of Kate’s family, especially her own baby girl. When she turns to Skip for support, he vows to do everything within his power to protect the woman and child whom he secretly hopes will someday be his family.

As the sexual energy between them heats up, the weight of so many changes and pressures in her life is becoming more than even a strong woman like Kate can handle. Rob has had his misgivings about her too-handsome-to-be-trusted suitor, but now the two men must work together to support the woman they both love, and protect her and her child from a killer.

K
ASSANDRA
L
AMB was a psychotherapist for over two decades, specializing in trauma recovery. She has also taught psychopathology at Towson University and at other colleges. Now retired, she divides her time between Maryland and Florida, where she lives with her husband and her dog. She has completed three books in the Kate Huntington series and is working on books four and five.

Go to
kassandralamb.wordpress.com
for more about Kassandra and the Kate Huntington series (including photo galleries to give you a sense of the settings in which these characters live and work). You can also contact the author at [email protected].