In 1994 Elise Title was still writing Harlequin Romances. In 1996
she turned a page and penned ROMEO, a chilling psychosexual
thriller that readers still find riveting. Then, a few years later,
she published what would be the first in a new series starring
Natalie (Nat) Price. CONVICTION is the third offering in that
series.

Price is a savvy law enforcement officer, employed by the state of
Massachusetts as the superintendent of Horizon House, a halfway
house for prisoners. But when Jessica Asher, a call girl with a
high society clientele, is murdered, a tsunami-like scandal breaks
in the wake of her death. The tidal wave of public slander could
reach into the secret lives of a coterie of powerful men who
comprise the movers and shakers in Boston's hoi polloi.

Nat's boss is the Deputy Police Commissioner who liaises between
the Corrections Department and the Parole Board. He is a married
man and the father of two sons, who Asher was blackmailing. When he
emerges as "the suspect most likely," the head of the Department of
Corrections wants Natalie to investigate. Could Asher have had her
hooks into others with deep pockets and trysts to hide? The only
way to find out is to enter her world.

So it won't surprise readers when Natalie goes undercover as a call
girl. Adorned in a wig, draped in designer clothes and "faking it"
with a padded bra, Price enters Jessica Asher's dangerous
playground. Her sleuthing takes her to some of the darkest spots in
Boston's vice-ridden underbelly. Things move quickly in this
shadowy place, and Natalie has little time to reflect upon how
ironic it is that her life is in danger for a man she doesn't even
like.

Title is still honing her skills as a writer of police procedurals
and has not entirely reprised her startling performance in ROMEO.
CONVICTION has its share of melodrama, which emerges when her hero
faces a clearly unplanned and unwanted pregnancy; when she becomes
involved in an imbroglio of wills with a female colleague; and when
she puts the two Carlyle sons, one a disabled man and the other a
thug, directly in the line of the investigation into their father's
seamy love life. On the debit side, Natalie Price is a
compassionate woman and a good law enforcement officer who has her
priorities in order. She displays a strong penchant for fairness
and getting things done. These qualities work to define her, and if
the series continues, she should become even more finely
limned.

Elise Title has the ability to write and to tell a story. Both
ROMEO and CONVICTION are proof of that and attest to the fact that
she also has talent and imagination. With a bit more honing and
perhaps a return to more complicated plots, she has a good chance
of winning an audience of mystery readers who expect interesting
stories, fully believable characters, a fast-paced narrative and
sophisticated prose. This book is a perfect beach/vacation read,
and in her next appearance, Natalie Price hopefully will appear in
full blossom.