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Mysterious, Nov 2004, 23.95, 292 pp. ISBN: 0892967900 Financial planner Tucker Sinclair's mother and her dog Muldoon live with her in her beach cottage in Los Angeles. Tucker expects to become a partner in the firm Aames & Associates especially in light of her recently completed grueling work with Dr. Milton Polk, who needed capital to expand NeuroMed, a testing facility using cutting edge techniques. She expects this campaign to be very successful as was her previous assignment. When she enters the office of Gordon Aames, Tucker expects accolades and an offer, but instead is told that a NeuroMed investor is going to sue the firm as part of a class action suit for eleven million dollars. It is obvious that Polk copied and changed the prospectus and report, but Tucker cannot find the original. Not long afterward, Polk's body is found in the bay, an apparent suicide. Tucker believes her client was murdered; when one of her contacts is killed next, she realizes she must find the missing report before she joins the growing obituary list. The heroine of FALSE PROFIT not only does not want to be a sleuth, but feels uncomfortable in that role as her expertise is finance investigations. However, she also knows she has little choice, but to find the missing report or face FBI charges of fraud and embezzlement, which would mean jail time as conviction would be a certainty (at least in her analytical mind). Thus, this cleverly plotted debut amateur sleuth filled with quirky characters makes believers that a desperate Tucker would reluctantly search for the proof of her innocence as opposed to hiring a pro;. Harriet Klausner | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Crime plotlets: Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes General Crime (including known murderer) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - power How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - California Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |
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