False Profits

By Patricia Smiley

   Tucker Sinclair is in a world of trouble. She is being accused of "white collar" crime, dead bodies keep showing up around her, and she is in danger of losing her home.

   On the day that Tucker has a scheduled meeting with her boss, instead of discussing her promotion to partner, she finds out that one of her client's investors is accusing her of doctoring the business plan and that he is threatening to sue the firm for $11 million dollars. Tucker did prepare the business plan for Dr. Milton Polk who wants to expand his NeuroMed Diagnostic Center. Somehow the recommendations that Tucker provided are not the ones in the business plan that the investors reviewed. To make matters worse the original documents and Dr. Polk are missing. Dr. Polk's body washes up on the beach; the authorities initially believe that he committed suicide. Tucker does not agree and is sure that Dr. Polk was murdered. In order to clear her name, Tucker is forced to investigate on her own and she becomes a reluctant amateur sleuth with only a week to figure out what happened before the case is turned over to the FBI. Meanwhile, Tucker's Aunt Sylvia claims that the beach house, which was bequeathed to Tucker by her grandmother, is actually hers. Aunt Sylvia says that she has found a second will that leaves the beach house to her rather than Tucker. She wants to sell the beach house because the land it sits on has become extremely valuable.

   Tucker's investigation leads her into a series of unusual and often humorous situations. She finds herself crashing a charity luncheon in order to gather evidence about the case and ends up being escorted off the grounds by a very handsome police officer. In another instance, Tucker decides to crawl through a doggie door only to find out that her informant has been murdered before she arrives. Throughout the novel, Tucker finds herself in zany and often dangerous situations, with the hunky policeman not far behind.

   False Profits is Patricia Smiley's first novel and she establishes a solid foundation for developing a series around Tucker Sinclair. The book is extremely well written, with an entertaining and fast paced plotline. I most highly recommend reading this novel and hope that a sequel is available soon.