Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Out and In by Pat Dunlap Evans (Review)

Out and In

a mystery-thriller

Stunning beauty and amateur cellist Marie Donovan finds herself in deep trouble after her pro-quarterback husband dives off a Dallas high rise—many say in shame after his shady investments go sour. Just months later, the grieving Marie faces capital murder charges for the death of a lecherous opera maestro. When hard evidence points squarely at her, only her best friend and defense lawyer believe her.

Marie is no stranger to struggle. During her six years as an NFL Football wife, she fends off groupies eager to take her man, all the while feeling lost in her husband’s macho culture. Studying the cello becomes Marie’s solace until her hard-drinking husband retires after an injury. Returning to Dallas, he plays with high society’s money in an investment scheme until winning at all costs leaves Marie and her twin sons on the hook for millions.

Scorned by society friends, charged with murder, Marie pins her hopes on hunky defense lawyer Ryan Ingles, one of Cole’s college football pals. After Ryan’s legal team discovers some of the maestro’s dark secrets, Marie and Ryan’s investigative troupe travel to exotic islands in search of clues Cole left behind. As the tropics weave a romantic spell, a corrupt offshore banker dashes Marie’s hopes. She wonders if she’ll ever be free of blame…and able to claim her own place in this world.

PRAISE FOR OUT AND IN

Out and In hits the ground at a full gallop, brimming with murder, gossip, self-centered and entitled characters, and more than enough drama to go around. Accused of a brutal murder, Marie Donovan starts off as one of those self-centered and entitled characters, but as we get to know her better, she becomes a bit more likable with each passing page. She’s flawed, she’s made tons of mistakes, and she hasn’t guided her grown twin sons as she should have over the years. But is she a murderer? Is she a conniving thief who collaborated with her late husband, Cole, on bilking so many people of their investments in an alleged Ponzi scheme? As each chapter unfolds, layers of lies are peeled back, eventually revealing the ugly truth.

The overall plot is definitely unique and filled with rabbit holes and wrong turns, but the author’s storytelling keeps everything in focus as Marie struggles to make it through her murder trial intact (talk about drama!) and then struggles to determine who set her up and why. The pace is brisk, punctuated by Terrance Nichols’s column, Out and In, that dishes on everything and everyone at the Metroplex Opera, including Marie when she is accused of murder and subsequently demoted from her role as Metroplex Opera League President. Terrance’s column provides a heavy dose of juicy gossip and speculation that keeps the reader turning the pages to find out just exactly who murdered the notoriously promiscuous Maestro.

An extra round of editing wouldn’t be amiss, but I didn’t let that hinder my enjoyment. What stood out for me more were the ideas of weathering those inevitable fair-weather friends, discovering unlikely friends who are truer than true, and presenting a false smile to hide your feelings when you just want to let people have it. Marie Donovan experiences all this and more within these pages, and you will feel her frustration, passion, and triumphant moments right along with her.

Out and In is a tangled web of secrets that is incredibly fun to unravel. When the full details of greed, corruption, and murder are eventually thrown in your face, you can only laugh at the clever yet raunchy audacity of it all. In truth, the entire story mimics an Operatic Tragedy, with Marie playing the cello as her friends, family, and enemies perform their various roles to perfection.