A Broken Life
Jan Christensen
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Oct 24 2014, $14.99
ISBN: 9781502974624
In Taylor, Rhode Island private investigator
Paula Michael heads to her office when she realizes a nearby homeless woman is
her high school classmate Martha Hendricks.
Paula persuades a reluctant Martha to have coffee and pastry, and to tell
her what happened to her. Downtrodden
Martha explains she worked for five years as an office manager at a medical
practice when her boss Dr. Treverson learned from a routine background check
she spent three days in jail for drug use.
Martha insists she never spent one day behind bars, but someone gave her
identity as theirs to the police. No one
believes her innocence and soon Martha found her life broken.
Paula takes Martha to meet lawyer Geri Smithfield who after hearing the story agrees to take on a
pro bono case. The sleuth also takes
Martha into her home while she investigates. The PI obtains info from Dr. Treverson, but
upon leaving she spots an amateur in a car obviously tailing her. Not long after she began her inquiry, someone
kills Treverson, threatens Paula and an attempt to silence her fails; however
an assault on Martha leaves her unconscious.
While Tina Shaw takes a breather after
being Buried Under Clutter, the second Paula Mitchell, P.I.
case (see Perfect Victim) is a timely, tense and
twisting cozy. The impact of the
identity theft feels incredibly genuine due to key factors: Treverson waited
too long to explain why he really fired her (instead of his downsizing excuse);
and by the time she knows the truth impoverished Martha had driven away all her
friends (her parents were dead) and lacked transportation to get legal aid in
Providence.
Harriet Klausner
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