Rotten Lies

A Lee Ofsted Mystery

By: Aaron Elkins, Charlotte Elkins

Narrated by: Julia Farhat

New Mexico has more than its share of unique and well-publicized attributes, but the one they prefer to play down is the fact that they lead the United States in lightning deaths per capita. Thus, the Cottonwood Creek Country Club of Los Alamos, which is hosting the High Desert Women's Classic golf tournament, takes elaborate measures to ensure that the numbers don't go up during the high-profile tournament.

Nevertheless, disaster strikes. On the very first morning, Ted Guthrie, the chairman of the club's board of directors, is killed when a bolt of lightning strikes the umbrella he is holding aloft at the second tee; a shocking, once-in-a-million accident. Or is it? Guthrie just happens to be the most reviled man in town, and for all the best reasons, so that his death is received more with relief than in sorrow, although most would say they would have preferred a less sensational exit.

Struggling golfer Lee Ofsted, knocked out of the tournament by an elbow injury and now scrambling to meet her expenses by providing color commentary for the TV coverage, finds herself beginning to wonder - with good reason - just how accidental Guthrie's death was. She takes her fears to the police, but they are understandably unimpressed. How, they ask, do you arrange someone's death via lightning bolt? No, this was simply an unfortunate accident, nothing more. They advise Lee to stick to her job and leave them to theirs. But her suspicions of foul play are heightened when her friend Boyd Marriner, the TV producer, promptly falls dead on consuming a takeout meal of chiles rellenos and black beans.

Fortunately, her new love interest, Carmel police lieutenant Graham Sheldon, shows up unannounced. Despite his better judgment he is pulled into her hunt for the cunning killer that lurks behind the scenes. Before they are through, the two of them will come frighteningly close to being one more "unfortunate accident" statistic. Like its predecessor, A Wicked Slice, Rotten Lies is set against a backdrop of high-society country-clubbers, low-society golfers, and the travails of earning a living on the professional golf tour.

©1995 Charlotte and Aaron Elkins (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Very Enjoyable

A light read with a glympse inside the golf tour, appealing characters and a very pleasant narrator.

Voices are a little iffy but it's a great story.

I really like the characters in this book. Lee is thoughtful and intelligent and Graham is awesome. They have some things to work through but they work well together. The narrator is a little thin on voice differentiation but I still really enjoyed the story and will listen to more of these.

Enjoyable cozy mystery

I read another Charlotte & Aaron Elkins book, Nasty Breaks, years ago & enjoyed it, so thought I'd pursue the series. Very enjoyable. First in Lee Ofsted series is "A Wicked Slice," which was also good. Lee is trying to make it as a professional golfer. She made some headway in book 1. In this book she's playing the best of her career when she develops tendonitis, tennis elbow, and has to withdraw from the tournament. Even worse, she aggravates the condition when she tries to administer CPR to a felled man she finds who was ostensibly hit by lightning. She worsens her arm for nothing - it's too late to save him. Boyd, a network exec, saves Lee's finances by offering her a job as a golf commentator. Then it turns out the electrocuted man might not have been killed by nature.
Characters from the first book continue here. Graham, Lee's police detective love interest, and Peg, who knows everybody and can find out just about everything and wants to partner with Lee in the detective efforts.