GRR Reviews The Burning Point (Circle of Friends) by Mary Jo Putney

The Burning Point started off with the trope "ridiculous will", but soon pivoted into much more, as it quickly added a murder mystery on top of it, when a couple that drifted apart must reunite to save their business and solve what may be the murder of her father...

Kate Corsi dreamed of going into the family business: Phoenix Demolitions International, but her old-fashioned father refused to let her get involved, even after she had finished school and licensed as an architect. When an explosion happened ahead of schedule and killed her father, she was summoned home... According to the will, she will receive a fortune, and her ex-husband, Donovan, will inherit the business... IF they both live under the same roof for a year. Forced to live together, Kate and Donovan must find the truth about how her father died, and confront the issues that caused them to split that many years ago... and how each had dealt with the issues since... All the while someone seems to be harassing the business, with accidents, vandalism, and more...

The ridiculous will first dominate your attention, as it's absurd! But once you accepted that (and it did make sense, in retrospect), the mystery of the death has plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing. The ending was Hollywood worthy, and both Donovan and Kate have character arcs that will be exposed one small bit at a time, and they will be properly resolved by the end. All in all, it's one heck of a ride.

Category: Contemporary / romantic suspense

Primary Plot: A divorced couple must reunite to save the family company, which seems to be under attack from without... and within...

Tropes: conspiracy, reunion, return, forced proximity, evil enemies, weird will

Overall Rating:  5/5