"appealing amateur sleuth"
Management curmudgeon Tucker Sinclair left her corporate
job when the partners failed to support her during a
murder investigation. She opened up her own business and
scrambles to build a solid client base. Ex-cop turned
private investigator Charles Tate asks for Tucker's help;
ergo she gets sucked into one of his investigations. Evie
Lawson asks Charles to help her because she thinks someone
is stalking her. They are to meet, but she is a no-show;
Tucker as a favor to Charlie goes to Evie's house, but she
is not there either. Tucker's police officer boyfriend describes a homicide
victim to her, who is Evie's former lover; Evie is a
person of interest to the police. Charlie is in a car
accident so he asks Tucker to continue to help him on the
case. Evie's stepbrother demands Charles find her before
she harms herself as he insists she is mentally unstable
and probably suicidal. Tucker discovers that Evie is
holding up the construction of a multi-million dollar
development project by refusing to sign away her
property. She now knows why seemingly everyone is
desperately seeking Evie, but like the others on the hunt
she has no idea where the woman hides. Though the tale can turn a bit confusing with the universe
searching for Evie, readers will agree that Patricia
Smiley has written an appealing amateur sleuth mystery due
to the intelligent, determined, and caring heroine.
Charles provides comic relief when the tension looks
overwhelming especially as the taut noose chokes Tucker.
There is a lot of action in this fast-paced tale, but it
is the characters especially tough and tender Tucker who
make SHORT CHANGE a fun investigative thriller. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 24, 2007
SummarySavvy management consultant Tucker Sinclair is trying to get
her own firm off the ground in Los Angeles. But when you're
mixed up in a private investigator's business, trouble is
always a prospect...
Tucker Sinclair is a free woman. She's finally escaped from
the oppressively corporate Aames & Associates and now runs
her own business consulting firm. But with freedom comes
unpredictability. What was supposed to be a short stint
helping private investigator Charley Tate get his practice
established turns into a full-time job. Charley pushes her
to go beyond the call of duty—to try to save not only
his business, but possibly his life.
It all starts when Eve Lawson stumbles into the Tate
Investigations office hoping to find out who is following
her. But who would want to follow a bland writer working on
a book about the post-World War II real estate boom in Los
Angeles? With Eve's wardrobe hopelessly stuck in the
eighties, Tucker can only imagine it's the fashion police.
But work means much-needed income for Tucker and Charley.
They soon learn that they've struck gold when this
far-fetched case explodes into murder—and Eve Lawson,
who's gone missing, is the prime suspect.
Now Tucker and Charley have to piece together the complex
life of Eve Lawson, the troubled daughter of a real estate
tycoon. She's been writing a memoir that may have rattled a
few skeletons in the family closet. Tucker is on the
case—and not even LA traffic can stop her...
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