Short Change

Smiley's well-paced mystery, set in L.A., is the third featuring management consultant Tucker Sinclair, who finds herself sorting out murder and theft when she attempts to organize the marketing and accounting of her friend's detective agency. A client who seems off-kilter to Tucker soon leads to identity theft, a real estate scam, and murder. When Tucker's PI friend is laid up, Tucker must investigate, or there may not be a business to consult on. Allyson Ryan does a terrific job with the villain's changing persona and with the plethora of witnesses and family members. Best of all, Ryan's sassy Tucker is irresistible. D.P.D. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

May 21, 2007
At the start of Smiley's diverting third Tucker Sinclair mystery (after 2005's Cover Your Assets
), the self-employed Los Angeles business consultant is sorting out the financial problems of her friend PI Charley Tate when distraught and disheveled Eve Lawson walks into Tate's office with complaints of being followed. When Lawson disappears, her boyfriend is killed and Tate is run off the road, Tucker turns detective. She retraces Lawson's erratic recent history, interviewing family members and former boyfriends, but something doesn't add up. At the center of the mystery is a small piece of property, owned by Lawson, that stands in the way of a major luxury development. That the murder occurred in the jurisdiction of LAPD detective Joe Deegan, Tucker's boyfriend, creates a conflict of interest. Meanwhile, Tucker is fighting her aunt for ownership of the cozy beach house she inherited from her grandmother. Satisfied fans will enjoy the forays and foibles of this charming heroine.