Claire had the feeling something was wrong…and she was right.

Claire is a buyer at a publishing house. Mr Harrison, her boss, sent her to investigate an accusation that a book they were getting ready to publish had been stolen, printed under another name. The dreaded word…plagiarism has reared it’s ugly head.

Claire considered herself boring, but to me she was one of us. You know, we are not rich, nor are we famous. We are just the average Joe helping the world go round. We all have a life and living it is not always exciting or adventurous.

The mystery grows the more I read. I’m not sure which characters are good or bad. Emelle Gamble is not giving me many clues to help me either, but I did know who the killer was early on. That’s okay, it’s all about the journey for me.

Hmmm…could we have the beginnings of a romance? I think so. But, is the player being played? Their affection in the office almost made me burst out in laughter. Love it.

The suspense is there and I am afraid for Claire. My only complaint is that when the suspense built, the pacing would slow, interrupting the flow.

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Stranger than Fiction by Emelle Gamble is a 2015 publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Claire is a dedicated, hardworking, and loyal editor for her publisher firm, until she is stunned by the accusations by a professor that one of her authors is a plagiarist. Vowing to get to the truth, Claire agrees to keep an open mind about Tony Nichols and his claims. But, as the couple spends more time together, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want the truth discovered.

I loved the spotlight on the world of publishing, giving readers a little insight about the behind the scenes machinations of publishers and authors. Of course, times are a little different now, but the basics are still the same. The competition is brutal and authors can be a handful, which creates a very plausible scenario. Plagiarism is always a huge fear, and when it involves a cornerstone of your publishing firm, then the situation could damage reputations for years to come. With the prospect of losing out on a multi-million dollar deal, the stakes become extremely high, and in this case, it turns deadly.

Is Tony telling the truth or does he have his own agenda? Did Claire’s client actually steal someone else’s manuscript? Can she trust Tony, a man she feels inexplicably drawn to? Could her rival be behind the accusations?

The suspense builds slowly as a true, guessing game emerges and the reader is unsure who to trust or who to believe. Claire is a modern woman who would fit in with any present day protagonist just fine. She’s smart and careful, follows her instincts, and has many admirable qualities. I really liked her and felt concern for her as it becomes apparent she is in a no win situation, and is bound to be hurt in one way or another.

Naturally, Tony is not the warmest person on earth, in the beginning, and is perhaps a little unbending and overly confident in his accusations. He remains an enigma throughout much of the story, but in the end I grew to like him.

This story is the type of romantic suspense, I cut my teeth on, so to speak, and reminded me of stories written by Victoria Holt, Dorothy Daniels, and Dorothy Eden, authors who wrote back in the 1960’s and 70’s, where the hero was often dark, brooding, maybe a little bit dangerous, and at times a suspect, someone the reader couldn’t quite trust initially. The heat level is also quite tame, with little or no explicit content. Naturally, as the years pass, styles change and these days it’s all about the hot, inked, military hero, with lots of steamy scenes, which is fun too, but I often wish for more stories like this one.

This book was originally published back in the 1990’s, which brings me back to my mantra concerning e- books and the digital age. Now that we have e books, it is possible to reissue older titles and introduce them to new audiences or even provide us longtime fans with the chance to read older titles we love, but have a hard time finding in print.

New updated covers give these books a fresh face, but the content is still the same as when they were originally published. So, if you are reading this book for the first time, you will definitely notice some things are missing, like computers and cell phones, and there might be a few outdated references here and there too. Some older titles that find their way into the digital age do not translate well over time, but this book made the transition quite seamlessly.

The dialogue, action, and suspense were not affected by time, and was a compelling story without all the modern day bells and whistles. The story stands on its own merits quite well, and I found it to be evenly paced, and well plotted. This is my favorite type of romantic suspense novel, and I'm so happy I got the chance to read it this second time around!

Overall this one gets 4 stars

Note

As stated earlier, I received an ARC copy of this book, and I'm sure the book has been through a triple wash, so this passsage:

"The smell registered. His homemade tile cleaner, a concoction of bleach, ammonia and soap, had been sitting on the window ledge"

may or may not be in the final product, but just in case, I feel compelled to remind everyone not to try this at home, since mixing bleach and ammonia releases toxic gasses which could be lethal. ( )