The Secret of the Villa Mimosa Book

Was it an accident...or an attempted murder?

Dr. Phyl Forster watched the TV news, horrified at the sight of the broken body in the ravine.  Then she raced to the hospital to see the victim.  Miraculously, the girl was alive, but without name or memory.  An irresistible challenge to Dr. Phyl, the psychiatrist who had buried her own past....

Detective Franco Mahoney was looking for a killer, without a whisper of a clue.  He needed the beautiful psychiatrist to unlock the victim's mind.  But he wasn't prepared for the passion Dr. Phyl inspired or the passion that ensued....

Elizabeth Adler's riveting novel of erotic obsession and revenge sweeps from San Francisco to Paris, from the Côte d'Azur to a remote Hawaiian island, tracing a tale of murder and madness with roots in a decadent past....

Publishers Weekly

Lust, greed and murder keep readers on their toes in Adler's new novel of romantic suspense. Psychiatrist Phyl Foster is intrigued with the unconscious Jane Doe found-having obviously been left for dead-in a San Francisco ravine. When the woman wakes up with amnesia, Phyl helps her try to remember her past and treats her like a kid sister, giving her clothes and a place to stay. The psychiatrist also runs interference for the woman, newly named ``Bea French,'' with macho homicide detective Franco Mahoney, who follows every lead toward Bea's true identity, which he hopes will help him discover who tried to kill her. After Phyl finds Bea a job as social secretary to a rich socialite, the amnesiac travels to Paris. When her employer dies suddenly, she is left with a fortune, two orphans, a restored French villa-and a 50-year-old murder mystery. Bea's investigation into that murder triggers her memory, so she calls Phyl for help, but the psychiatrist is busy with a jealous new lover. Meanwhile, Franco runs a check on the lover. What he finds sends him rushing to Paris to protect the innocent. Adler is expert at digging deep into her characters' psyches and showing what makes them tick. Her villain here is obvious but wonderfully portrayed-as are all the other characters in this well-plotted, entertaining work. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection. (Jan.)