Reviewed By: Sandi - RAM
Calculated Loss
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Linda L. Richards
Class/Genre: Mystery Woman Main Character Amateur Sleuth
Series: Madeline Carter # 3
September 2006; Mira Books, 384 pp.
Attending the funeral of your ex-husband. What a great setting for “Calculated Loss,” and Madeline Carter handles it with far more grace and maturity than many of us ever hope to achieve. One might expect some bitterness or at the least animosity from the ex-spouse’s family, but Madeline and her ex, Braydon, seem to have grown up quite a bit since their divorce. Although they did not communicate with each other, or his family with her, when he unexpectedly commits suicide, his family contacts her to attend the funeral. And she surprises herself by desiring to attend. But when she arrives, she finds herself thrust into the role of investigating Braydon’s company for irregularities. Her stock market expertise, in addition to her former relationship to Braydon convinced her former mother-in-law that she was the best person look into Braydon’s company and his death. Since their divorce ten years ago, Braydon had created a very successful string of restaurants, cooking television show and published several cookbooks. His company seemed to be doing very well. A suicide did certainly seem odd, except the food industry lowered his flag-ship restaurant from 6 stars to 5. Was that enough for him to take his life? And with a meal that he always despised? The more Madeline looks into the company and Braydon’s death, the more unclear things seem to be. She does not find a squeaky clean financial report, nor the menu of the last meal that Braydon would order. The more she digs, the more suspects are unearthed. Though she just wants to run back to sunny and warm southern California, she stays in Vancouver until she can balance this sheet and figure where all the accounts are off, even if it imperils her life.
“Calculated Loss” is written with intelligence and energy. You feel yourself pulled in as Madeline is resolving herself, and what is going on with her life, through helping Braydon’s family. You want her to succeed, for the victim, as much as for her. The reader will not want to stop reading until finished with the book. Madeline Carter is delightful!
Sandi - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Sandi - RAM
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