False Profits

October 4, 2004
An engaging, down-to-earth heroine—a successful L.A. management consultant with a charming weakness for her Porsche Boxster—more than compensates for a predictable story line in Smiley's first novel. When investors accuse Tucker Sinclair of doctoring a business plan, they approach Sinclair's boss and mentor, Gordon Aames, and demand their $11 million back. Sinclair goes in search of the plan's primary author, a brash neurologist, Milton Polk, and discovers not her elusive doctor but a policeman with a Polaroid of the dead Polk. In an unlikely scenario, Sinclair injects herself into a charity luncheon given by the highly suspicious Wade Covington, a powerful man connected both to Aames and the murder victim. Clarification of Covington's murky relationship to Polk and of a convoluted insurance scam take up most of Sinclair's energy, though she finds time for sparkless visits with her ex-husband and skirmishes with her Aunt Sylvia, who's determined to get her hands on Sinclair's beachfront cottage. A romantic interest appears on the horizon in the last few pages, a clear indicator that this book hopes to be the first in a series. With fresher devices and plot turns, it should be a pleasure to see Sinclair in action again. Agent, Scott Miller at Trident Media Group. (Nov. 22)

Forecast:
Blurbs from Janet Evanovich and Elizabeth George plus a California author tour should ensure a good start for this first-time author.

July 1, 2004
Tucker Sinclair must "sharpen all her skills to survive the deadly jungle of spreadsheets" and clear her name in the world of high-stakes business in this debut, which has already been praised by Janet Evanovich and Elizabeth George. Smiley lives in California.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2004
It's hard to believe that this clever and engaging adventure is Smiley's first novel; it reads like the latest in a well-established series. Smiley's heroine, 30-year-old divorcee Tucker Sinclair, works her tail off at a downtown L.A. financial-advising firm and relaxes at her Malibu-area beach cottage; that is, she would relax if her actress mother wasn't a current houseguest. When her mom goes off to a shamanic retreat, leaving her daughter to care for Muldoon, the wicked Westie, the tuckered Tucker relishes the quiet. But things don't stay quiet for long--a shake-up at work has Tucker in danger of losing the partnership she has worked hard to earn. After writing a business plan for Dr. Milton Polk, who wants to expand his radiology practice, Tucker is shocked to discover that a different, crazy plan has been presented to investors--one of whom wants to sue. To top it off, Polk is missing, and all the paperwork in his file has disappeared. Combing L.A. for clues, Tucker encounters a dead body--and a hot body belonging to a handsome police detective. Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum will appreciate the gutsy and klutzy Tucker.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)