Elizabeth Lowell – författare

The incomparable New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell explores the fine art of murder.

Lacey Quinn is determined to prove that the striking landscapes she inherited, done by her late, much-loved grandfather, are as good as anything hanging in museums of California Impressionism today. But the paintings now in her possession are more than the works of a talented master; they are anguished voices from the grave . . . crying murder!

Suddenly Lacey’s investigation into the life and death of the enigmatic artist is leading her down an ever-darkening road paved with lies, blood, and devastating secrets. It also leads her to Ian Lapstrake, a security specialist employed by the appraisal house Rarities Unlimited, who has taken an interest in Lacey’s inheritance . . . and in her safety. Because someone wants to prevent Lacey Quinn from examining her grandfather’s work too closely, by any means necessary. And clues to a series of horrific, unexplained killings may be hidden in the brushstrokes—clues that have now indelibly marked Lacey and Ian for death.

""When your read this, I''ll be dead…""

These are the troubling words Serena Charter''s grandmother has written on a note accompanying four pages of a centuries-old illuminated manuscript delivered after the old woman''s passing.

Seeking clues to the mystery laid out before her, Serena turns to Erik North, a reclusive manuscript appraiser with a passion for the past. Erik''s examination of the vellum pages raises perplexing questions – about Serena''s legacy, the possible location of the remainder of the manuscript…and the senseless murder of an eccentric old woman.

Suddenly, Serena and Erik find themselves in the center of a firestorm that rages between two worlds…a past long dead yet living on in an ancient text and a contemporary landscape fraught with terror. Now, there is no one they trust except each other as they get closer to a shocking revelation about what is really at stake and how far a killer will go to possess a vanished treasure.

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell returns with a chilling tale of the law gone wrong and a kidnapping that threatens more than one life. Orphaned at thirteen, Grace Silva clawed her way out of poverty and violence to become one of the most respected judges on the federal bench. Grace believes in the rule of law -- lives it, breathes it. She has always been buttoned up and buttoned down. Except once.

Joe Faroe has learned that laws are made by politicians, and politicians are all too human. He believes in the innocents, the ones getting ground up by governments that are too corrupt to protect their own citizens. He''s been through the political meat grinder himself. It cost him his career, his freedom, and the woman who still haunts him. Since then Faroe has worked outside the rules as a kidnap specialist for St. Kilda Consulting, a Manhattan-based global business that concentrates on the shadow world. He is good at his work -- intelligent, confident, ruthless. Until a friend dies trying to kill him.

Now Faroe is out of the business. Then Grace comes to him and Faroe finds himself sucked back into the shadows, tracking a violent killer who holds the life of Grace''s son in his bloody hands.

Kayla Shaw is a smart and capable private banker in Arizona. Rand McCree is a haunted man painting landscapes in the Pacific Northwest, burning with a need for answers. They are two strangers with nothing in common—until their lives entwine . . . and explode.

Everything changes for Kayla as she barely escapes a kidnapping attempt and finds herself accused of a shocking crime: the illegal laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars. Damned by lies and false ""evidence,"" she is trapped. After five agonizing years, Rand has finally been offered the name of his twin brother''s murderer. Hungry for vengeance, he accepts a job with St. Kilda Consulting that will place him in the killer''s orbit . . . and tantalizingly close to Kayla Shaw, who has been targeted as the killer''s next victim. Since she can''t turn to the police, who believe she''s guilty as sin, she must place her life in Rand McCree''s hands.

Suspicious of one another, needing one another, they are two against the world as the violence of the past erupts in the present. And now innocence alone will not be enough to keep Kayla Shaw alive . . .

Jill Breck was just doing her job as a river guide when she saved the life of Lane Faroe, 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 reluctantly calls in a favor.

Zach Balfour works part-time as a consultant for St. Kilda. His expertise is gathering and analyzing information from unlikely and often dangerous sources. Though he''s got the skills to be a highly effective bodyguard, being a bullet catcher isn''t his preferred way to spend time.

Protecting Jill will take him into familiar territory—among a strange, savagely competitive bunch of collectors who''ll do anything to stay at the top. But Jill is in deeper waters than she''s ever known; 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.

From the cozy rooms of the Breck homestead cabin to the cold multimillion-dollar galleries of the Western art circuit, Zach and Jill must race against time to unmask a ruthless killer hidden in a blue smoke of money, threats, lies, and death. . . .

Jill Breck was just doing her job as a river guide when she saved the life of Lane Faroe, 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 reluctantly calls in a favor.

Zach Balfour works part-time as a consultant for St. Kilda. His expertise is gathering and analyzing information from unlikely and often dangerous sources. Though he''s got the skills to be a highly effective bodyguard, being a bullet catcher isn''t his preferred way to spend time.

Protecting Jill will take him into familiar territory—among a strange, savagely competitive bunch of collectors who''ll do anything to stay at the top. But Jill is in deeper waters than she''s ever known; 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.

From the cozy rooms of the Breck homestead cabin to the cold multimillion-dollar galleries of the Western art circuit, Zach and Jill must race against time to unmask a ruthless killer hidden in a blue smoke of money, threats, lies, and death. . . .

The sensational New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Death is back with an exhilarating novel of danger, romance, and suspense

Carolina May—Carly to her friends—never knew her biological family. Ironic, considering she a successful family historian. Recently hired by the eccentric aunt of New Mexico’s multi-millionaire governor Quintrell, the future looks bright. Until things start going wrong . . . and Carly begins to learn the true meaning of fear.

Daniel Duran made a career out fighting for other people’s beliefs—principles they’d given their lives for. But now he wants some meaning of his own. Yearning for a reason to live, he’s come back to Taos, the town where he grew up.

Soon, the lawyer(?) and the historian’s paths cross. While Carly’s investigation into the Quintrell family amuses Dan it also chills him, because he knows a dark truth Carly doesn’t: in New Mexico, tracing bloodlines is a deadly sport. . . .

The name Elizabeth Lowell has become synonymous with electrifying fiction that seamlessly combines suspense, intrigue, and passion. And now the phenomenal New York Times bestselling author brilliantly displays her incomparable talents in a story of treachery, greed, conspiracy, and murder that will hold the reader spellbound until the final word.

It is the opportunity of a lifetime for Kate Chandler, the chance to cut seven rare, priceless sapphires and solidify her reputation as a world-class jewel cutter. But something goes horribly, tragically wrong during what should have been a simple transfer of goods. The sapphires vanish without a trace. Missing also is the man Kate trusted to transport the gems: her half brother, Lee, who now, quite possibly, is dead. And suddenly she is on the run, pursued by federal agents who suspect her of being the criminal mastermind of a cunning bait-and-switch scheme.

Special agent Sam Groves is one of the best of the best, an essential member of the FBI''s elite crime strike force and the perfect man to lead the hunt, since he could never be scammed by a beautiful confidence woman. But something is troubling about this assignment, because someone else is chasing Kate Chandler as well.

Only Kate suspects the awful truth: She''s unwittingly stumbled into a conspiracy of deceit, betrayal, and cold-blooded murder that goes far beyond a simple jewel heist. And a chilling, threatening voice on the telephone only confirms her worst suspicions. Getting Sam Groves, the FBI agent who''s her constant shadow, to believe her is a step in the right direction -- but it may be one that''s too little too late in a bloody game where terror dictates her every move and the rules are constantly changing. Because the order has already been passed down to a ruthlessly efficient assassin: Kate Chandler must not be allowed to live ...

Simon the loyal has vowed never to love, for love makes a warrior weak. His arranged marriage to a beautiful Norman heiress would be duty and no more. But more than duty stirs his blood when he first sees Ariane. She has known only coldness from men and a betrayal so deep it all but killed her soul. Wanting no man, trusting no man, speaking only through the sad songs she draws from her harp, Ariane comes to Simon an unwilling bride. They wed to bring peace to the disputed lands, but marriage alone is not enough. Simon must teach Ariane passion, she must teach him trust. And both must surrender to the sweet violence of love′s enchantment. . .or die.

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell creates another masterpiece of excitement and chills, passion and surprise

Die in Plain Sight

When Lacey Quinn inherits the striking landscapes done by her late, much-loved grandfather, she believes they are as good as anything hanging in museums. But the paintings now in her possession are more than the works of a talented master. They are anguished voices from the grave . . . crying murder!

Lacey begins researching her grandfather''s past -- and is rocked almost immediately by a strange series of violent events. Someone wants to steal her inheritance, to reduce the paintings to unrecognizable ashes in a suspicious blaze. Someone wants to prevent Lacey from examining her grandfather''s work too closely . . . by any means necessary.

Ian Lapstrake, a security specialist, has taken an interest in Lacey''s inheritance . . . and in her. Troubled by what he sees, he becomes Lacey''s shadow, as her search for answers leads them both down an ever-darkening road paved with lies, blood, and devastating secrets.

They call her "Amber the Untouched" throughout the Disputed Lands -- a chaste, golden-haired beauty who fears the remarkable love that was prophesied at her birth . . . and the death that must inevitably follow. Now Duncan has come to her in darkness, as was foretold -- a wounded warrior with no memory, seared by passion''s fire and irresistibly drawn to the innocent enchantress who divines truth with a touch. Their romance is legend in a time of war. But when Duncan''s memory returns, he sees Amber as his enemy. Still, he cannot forsake the lover who healed his body and heart. And he will defy to the death the dread forces that have proclaimed their love . . .

The New York Times bestelling queen of of romantic suspense—an author hailed as “a cut above”* returns with an exceptional thriller packed with her trademark combination of passion, danger, and intrigue

Throwing himself into his painting, Rand McCee wishes the swirls of light and color can erase the memory of his beloved brother’s murder. On a scouting assignment for St. Kilda Consulting, a Manhattan-based, global business that concentrates on the shadow world where governments can’t go, Rand’s twin was shot in cold blood before Rand’s eyes.

Finally coming to terms with the fact that he will never be able to find the man responsible—a mysterious figure known as “The Siberian”—Rand just wants to forget. But as he soon learns, the past won’t let him. . . .

Helping a rich socialite finance an art exhibition, Arizona banker Kayla Shawn has unwittingly become entangled in a deadly web of lies and deceit involving money laundering. When her employer tries to buy her silence, Kayla knows she’s in way over her head, with only one way out: Rand.

Though their attraction is instant and intense, it’s not enough to overcome their mutual suspicion. Somehow Kayla and Rand must learn to work together to unmask a terrifying enemy before they land in jail—or the grave.

Wild and restless, Kyle Donovan has freed himself from the constraints of his family''s high-powered gem-trading empire to rove the world as a treasure hunter. Now the president of Donovan International has given Kyle an assignment with explosive ramifications. A casehe must take.

When one of China''s legendary cultural treasures isstolen, Lianne Blakely, a mysterious and beautiful jade expert, is accused of the theft. Its Kyle''s job to get to the bottom of what could be a potential disaster for the Donovans as well as Lianne.

But Kyle finds himself irresistibly drawn to the exotic beauty and captivated by her fierce claim of innocence. Soon they are in dangerous pursuit of the real thief, drawn deeper into the perils of spiraling power plays, and linked by a passion as powerful as the lore of the ancient culture and as enduring as the splendor of the treasured jade.

“Romantic suspense is her true forte.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell creates suspense and emotional intensity with her classic Midnight in Ruby Bayou, a riveting romantic thriller in her popular four-book series featuring the remarkable Donovan family. A recipient of the Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award, Lowell delivers a treasure of a story that seamlessly blends passion and peril as a beautiful artist and a dashing adventurer join forces on a hunt for a legendary fortune in gems. Midnight in Ruby Bayou is a treat for Linda Howard, Nora Roberts, and Jayne Ann Krentz fans.

Somewhere in the Australian outback, on land left to her by a late relative she never met, American photographer Erin Windsor believes a diamond mine might be waiting with the promised yield of millions of dollars in raw gems. But the old man took its location with him to the grave. Erin''s not the only one in the hunt, though she''s easily the least ruthless…and most vulnerable. Blood will stain the trail to a precious, well-hidden secret, and she must turn to Cole Blackburn for help or face the killing night alone. A geologist and a walking mystery with ties to powerful forces that are now Erin''s enemies, Cole is a dangerous man to trust, but she has no choice. Because life is too short to throw away your dreams, no matter how treacherous the pursuit of them might be.

And death is forever.

The troubling message from Serena Charters''s late grandmother appears in a package containing four pages of a centuries-old illuminated manuscript -- a strange inheritance that hides many secrets...and has already cost many lives. Seeking answers, Serena turns to Erik North of Rarities Unlimited, a reclusive manuscript appraiser with a passion for the past. Without warning, they are thrust together into the center of a lethal firestorm that rages between two worlds -- one long dead, yet living on in an ancient text, the other chillingly alive and fraught with peril. In the blink of an eye, Serena and Erik have become targets of an unseen and determined stalker as they get closer to shocking revelations about Serena''s legacy, the cold murder of an eccentric old woman in the heat of the Mojave Desert...and just how far a remorseless killer is willing to go. And now their only slim hope of survival is to keep moving.

Made desperate by poverty and loss, Evelyn Starr Johnson sees a golden opportunity to win back her lost status by recovering the treasure map stolen from her murdered foster parents. And with nothing left to wager but her innocence, the beautiful card shark stares coolly at their killers across the poker table - then stacks the deck and deals the winning hand to a handsome, unsuspecting stranger.

When the exquisite temptress he won at a card game runs off with rest of his winnings, sharpshooter Matt ′Reno′ Moran vows to hunt her down-never dreaming it is his destiny to join forces with the thieving female on a dangerous search for hidden gold. But, come hell or high water, Reno is determined to reclaim everything that is rightfully his - including the tempestuous woman who calls herself ′Evening Star′, who Reno dares not love, but desires with all his soul.

When an exquisitely crafted, authentic imperial Faberge egg mysteriously shows up at Laurel Swann''s home studio, she knows it can only be from one person—her father, who has drifted in and out of her life for as long as she can remember. But this time Jamie Swann leaves her something too many people will kill for.

Out of her league and desperate, Laurel is forced to accept help from the very man who is trying to ensnare her father in his own web of double crosses. Cruz Rowan can help her stay alive, but will he do the same for her father?

Elizabeth Lowell, writing as Ann Maxwell, deftly combines the nonstop action of a spy thriller with the heart-pounding excitement of true love and adventure.