The Lonely Sentinel by Wise

About the book

The Lonely Sentinel is a compelling tale born in the virgin bays of western Mexico. A man drowns at sea, his body is lost forever. To pay homage, his friend erects a monument to his departed mentor. The tablet is a lonely sentinel that will never see, guarding a grave that will never be filled. Eighteen years later, in a nearby town, a terrible fire kills ten people. From this tragedy unfolds a series of events which will tear the hearts and minds of the Mexican people.
David Slater is a rising executive, a success in the business world who unexpectedly learns of his mother's death. Saddened with her passing, he is relieved that their fractured relationship will no longer experience a union where love and hate are intermingled and where emotions flow like a roller coaster. His mother was an exceptional woman. Successful, ambitious and quite controversial, she exceeded in a business climate that denied women the right of entry. David summed up his life with his mother in only one word: resentment. To effect closure, he begins a journey to determine why she was killed.
David discovers his mother's world to be far different than he had ever imagined. Hidden bank accounts, a secret past life, a letter warning her that she may be killed and questionable pieces of art painted by Philippe Moreau, Mexico's most famous twentieth century artist, send David on a trail of deception and near death. The reader is transported from Mexico City to the towns and cities of south-western Mexico, across the ocean to the gold coast of France and back to Mexico. What David discovers nearly kills him and what he learns of himself will forever change.
Threaded throughout this fast moving mystery, is a romantic yarn which brings David in contact with a young journalist by the name of Katherine. She too is investigating the fire and her hope of writing a series of articles for the Mexican press alarms David. To prevent the story from being published, the two enter into a partnership of convenience. During the course of their investigation, a flirtatious relationship develops which distracts David's attention and nearly destroys his life in the process.
Katherine is an enigmatic woman, fearful of men, insecure in herself and burdened with guilt. The two are hesitant of where this association will take them and their pilgrimage is laden with their own emotional baggage. At the base of the same hill in which a memorial pays tribute to a departed friend, the plot concludes and the mystery of the fire is laid to rest.