Review: Stealing for a Living

Author Naomi Rand follows-up her debut The One That Got Away with her second novel in the mystery series featuring the sharp and intrepid Emma Price. Emma is not a typical crime fiction protagonist and this book is colored by a Emmas experience as a soon to be single mother of an infant girl, her work for the Capitol Defenders Office and her emotional involvement with a New York City detective. The back-story is what makes this book an exceptional read and Emma Price a three-dimensional character.

When Emma wakes up to find she is already behind in her busy schedule that involves picking up her baby daughter from her soon to be exs. She is still mentally dealing with the events of the night before. Emma was obliged to be present at her boss, Dawns fiftieth birthday party. The proceedings were already fraught with tension when Emmas escort, Detective Solomon, is slighted by another partygoer. Emma finds out that her quirky and manic boss has decided to adopt from over seas. The evening quickly becomes a fiasco. The next morning, battling hip deep snow and her exs fiancée, Emma finds out that an old family friend has been found dead. This adds to an already heaping plate of responsibilities and opens a door to the past Emma would rather keep closed.

Eleanor Hammond lays across her kitchen table, dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Her grown children, Leslie and Joshua, bicker as Laurence Solomon tries to make sense of the scene. As a staunch activist in the controversial pro-rights battle, Dr. Hammond appears to have been executed. Emma cant help but become involved. She is drawn in further by her by her childhood friendship with Eleanors prodigal son, Josh. He has returned a successful businessman, but Emma is on guard against the impetuous troublemaker she knew years before.

As an investigator with the Capital Defender's Office, Emma has been assigned to a another case with as many puzzling layers as the death of her friend. A man accused of murder faces death row and its up to Emma to keep that from happening. His wife thinks the world is better off with him dead and a part of Emma agrees. This doesnt make her task any easier. Nor does her Dawns pre-occupation with her own life, which leaves Emma virtually solo in her effort.

With multiple story lines and two cases to solve, Naomi Rand keeps the reader guessing to the end. A realistic lead, struggling to find all the answers while dealing with a rebellious teenage son, a baby, a shaky relationship and a career, is the backbone of the story. It is refreshing to see a lead that isnt drawn as a superhero and relies on her own wit and tenaciousness.

Rand draws upon her writing for Working Mother and Redbook and has a strong grasp of what protagonist is striving to achieve. And, as life duplicates art, Rand revered her mother, Dr. Anna Tulman Rand. Like Dr. Eleanor Hammond, she was a doctor, an unflagging political activist and a proponent of womens rights.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Jennifer Jordan

Book Review: Stealing for a Living