But what you also get with many Linda Howard books are heroes that, while they make for compelling reading, will never be confused with an Alan Alda type of sensitive man. In fact, sometimes they are so domineering and arrogant that you actually might not want to meet them in person. No, check that, you would definitely want to meet them but their macho conceit might make them very difficult to live with.

Ohio nurse Karen Whitlaw's beloved mother has just died when she receives a mysterious package from the father who abandoned them years ago. Due to the years of anger and resentment toward her father, Karen ignores the contents of the box.

Months later, New Orleans Detective Marc Chastain notifies Karen that her father has been brutally murdered in the French Quarter. What the police originally think is the uncomplicated murder of a street person slowly becomes more complex as some perplexing facts and the true identity of her father are revealed.

Karen travels to New Orleans to claim her father's body, and from her first meeting with Marc, there is an instant attraction between them. Although Marc is quick to jump to erroneous conclusions about Karen, he also is very determined in his efforts to seduce her.

And seduce her he does -- in a calculated, premeditated plan that backfires. After a passionate night, Karen runs home to Ohio and soon discovers that her life is in danger and Marc Chastain may be the only person who can protect her.

Marc Chastain is definitely a Linda Howard hero: good looking, intelligent, classy dresser and unbelievably arrogant. But for a detective trained to observe and analyze, I thought that he jumped to conclusions about people very prematurely. I also thought for a while Karen would be better off without him. But he did manage to reel me in with his magnetism. That is the thrill of a Linda Howard book -- even as you're shaking your head at the hero's actions, you are breathing deeply, too.

I'll admit I am not sympathetic to the well-known (and overused) plot device that is based upon the heroine not completely investigating the mysterious package that someone has sent her. I simply cannot imagine feelings so strong that they completely eradicate any curiosity one might have. How many people don't thoroughly check out a box they receive in the mail?

Whatever. The bottom line is that Kill and Tell is a page-turning read that occasionally requires either a glass of ice water or a fan in hand. It also includes a secondary character who is so intriguing that at times I was more interested in his story than the main characters.

Note to Linda Howard: Please, please give us John Medina's story ---soon.

--Dede Anderson