| Murder mysteries are a dime a dozen these days | | | | a Hollywood star. Yes, Hollywood has come to |
| but Charlie Hudson's "Shades of Gold" combines | | | | town. Some consider it an invasion while others |
| many hues to produce an intriguing blend of | | | | will prosper from the big spenders. But just as in |
| colorful characters. In Hudson's latest work, she | | | | real life some behind the scene characters are not |
| weaves a complex yet coherent and | | | | always as they seem. |
| comprehensive tale. | | | | From the wife-beater found with a butcher knife |
| Hudson's style is reminiscent of a "CSI" episode | | | | in his chest, to the town eccentric that apparently |
| with many subplots. Her character development is | | | | drowned in the mangrove islets, to the Hollywood |
| personable, describing not only their physical | | | | film crew special effects member shot dead in |
| appearance, their vocations, and interpersonal | | | | the dive shop, to the estranged ex-convict |
| relationships, but she allows you inside the | | | | husband tragically taken out by a police |
| character's head to see what makes them tick. | | | | marksman, the action is non-stop. What erupted |
| All this could become very tedious but Hudson | | | | in the quaint little vacation town? A story from |
| pulls it off with a cohesiveness of a consummate | | | | the past, ghost wandering the out islands, a |
| storyteller. | | | | Hollywood movie on location, secret night dives, |
| Drawing from her personal life experience as a U. | | | | romantic and lustful interludes, all intertwine to |
| S. Army veteran and avid scuba diver, she | | | | reveal one most unexpected tale of fortunes lost |
| employs her knowledge to detail life upon the sea | | | | and fortunes found. |
| and beneath its depths. | | | | This is the third book in the "Shade" series and |
| The fictional town of Verde Key Florida comes | | | | has a delightful tone that blends well with the first |
| alive with Hudson's vivid descriptions even as her | | | | two-Shades of Truth and Shades of Murder-while |
| characters perish. She wasted no time setting up | | | | working well as a stand-alone book. I am looking |
| her story, as someone is found dead in the very | | | | forward to a recorded personal interview with this |
| first sentence. Before long there are four dead | | | | author on Writers in the Sky Podcast February |
| bodies and detective Bev Henderson | | | | 29, 2008. |
| ceremoniously begins her unrelenting quest of | | | | Title: Shades of Gold |
| trying to solve the mystery behind the four | | | | Author: Charlie Hudson |
| seemingly unrelated deaths. From Boston to | | | | ISBN: 978-1-4327-1440-6 |
| Chicago, LA to Miami, Bev leaves no stone | | | | Publisher: Outskirts Genre: Fiction/Mystery |
| unturned. She elicits the help of her friend Chris | | | | Publication Date: 2007 |
| Green, dive instructor and owner of a local dive | | | | Pages: 267 |
| shop, who incidentally was hired to give lessons to | | | | Price: US $12.95/CAN $13. |