Cover Blurb:

You can't outrun sorrow--the old saying follows privite eye Kat Colorado when she takes an undercover assignment to flee the nightmares stemming from a homicide she committed in self-defense.

P.I. Kat becomes bartender Kate as she explores the mysterysurrounding the death of Diedre Durkin, the bar owner's wife. Charmed by her boss's sexy, lopsided smile and touched by his palapable grief, Kat learns that many people in town wonder if Matt Durkin killed Diedre, although the cops closed the case as a robbery/murder.

Nothing's what it seems in this picturesque place. Was the dead woman a chameleon, shedding personalities with an eerie ease? Just how grief-stricken is her husband? Is Diedre's sister a loving wife or a woman twisted with bitterness and loss? And the man at the bar--what was on his mind? Just another drink? Or something more deadly?

When she confronts a clever killer, Kat must face the darker side of the human heart--not only in the murderer, but in herself.

From Emily Melton - BookList: Hard-boiled female private eye Kat Colorado is back in this fourth book in the series by author/bartender Karen Kijewski. This time Kat takes on a new identity as Kate, the dyed-blonde bartender, to try to discover who murdered Diedre Durkin, the local bartender's wife. As she investigates motives, suspects, and alibis, Kat encounters blackmail and infidelity, a deep-seated and dangerous sibling rivalry, twisted family jealousies, and a web of bitter deceit and hatred. In the end, however, all comes right, and Kat not only discovers the identity of the murderer, but she makes a whole new set of friends and rids herself of her own nightmares about death. The book has some dark moments, but overall, it is upbeat and entertaining. Kijewski has obviously drawn on her experiences as a bartender to present the reader with a cast of characters who are unusual, funny, and appealing. A definite must-have for public library mystery collections.

From Publisher's Weekly: PI Kat Colorado (seen earlier this year in Kat's Cradle) has been afflicted with nightmares since she killed--in self-defense--a man she had thought was her friend. Hoping that her new case will help end her emotional turmoil, Kat leaves Sacramento (against the advice of her lover, Hank) to go undercover as a bartender in an old California mining town, now a resort. She has been hired by a wealthy man to find the murderer of his goddaughter Diedre Durkin, who worked with her husband, Matt, at the bar they owned in Grass Valley. Quickly Kat befriends fellow barmaid Charlene, Diedre's sister Chivogney and husband Stu, as well as Matt, the town's pick as Diedre's killer, and their young son Toby. After worrying that she's making no progress, Kat knows she's on the right track when Toby is pushed over a cliff by someone who whispers, ``Go see your mother,'' and she herself is kicked into the basement of an abandoned barn during a friendly paint-ball war game. Battling black widow spiders and her own anxieties, Kat reveals new depths of vulnerability and trademark toughness as she unravels tangled family secrets in this tantalizing, rewarding tale. Author tour . (Nov.)

From School Library Journal: YA-- Kat Colorado returns in Kijewski's fourth novel, and she is as entertaining as ever. Tobias McAlister asks Kat to investigate the death of his godchild Deidre, murdered as she left the bar she and her husband owned. Although still wrestling with self-doubts resulting from a previous case in which she was forced to kill a suspect in self-defense, Kat agrees to take on the assignment. She goes undercover as a bartender at the murder scene and quickly becomes a favorite with the local citizens. She discovers a pattern to their relationships, past and present, that makes her task a challenge and a heartache. With zany humor and bold confrontations, Kat brings the murderer to justice, making readers sorry to have reached the last page, but eager for this detective's next adventure. YAs will certainly find a heroine in this lovely, wisecracking, but formidable P. I.-- Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VA

From The Publisher: You can't outrun sorrow - the old saying follows private eye Kat Colorado when she takes an undercover assignment to flee the nightmares stemming from a homicide she committed in self-defense. P.I. Kat becomes bartender Kate as she explores the mystery surrounding the death of Deidre Durkin, the bar owner's wife. Charmed by her boss's sexy, lopsided smile and touched by his palpable grief, Kat learns that many people in town wonder if Matt Durkin killed Deidre, although the cops closed the case as a robbery/murder. Nothing's what it seems in this picturesque place. Was the dead woman a chameleon, shedding personalities with an eerie ease? Just how grief-stricken is her husband? Is Deidre's sister a loving wife or a woman twisted with bitterness and loss? And the man at the bar - what was on his mind? Just another drink? Or something more deadly? When she confronts a clever killer, Kat must face the darker side of the human heart - not only in the murderer, but in herself.