Monday, April 18, 2011

A Penny for Your Thoughts-Mindy Starns Clark

A Penny for Your Thoughts
Mindy Starns Clark
Harvest House, Apr 1 2011, $13.99
ISBN: 9780736929561

Tired J.O.S.H.U.A. Foundation attorney Callie Webber, after giving a $300,000 grant to Transition Resources, flies home from Chicago to DC. On the flight the widow calls her boss Tom the philanthropist whom she never met. After he lectures her for trading in her first class ticket for coach, Tom assigns her to travel to Philadelphia to give $250,000 to his family friend Wendell Smythe’s Feed the Need cause.

Callie arrives at Smythe’s office to deliver the cheek in person, but finds the recipient dead. She notifies a stunned Tom who asks her, as a former private detective, to investigate the murder. Callie moves into Smythe’s home to investigate his homicide; only to find the victim’s family uncooperative and she fears dangerous.

This is a terrific whodunit filled with twists and a hint of romance though Callie and Tom have never met in person. The story line is fast-paced from the first grant to the final denouement. Adding depth to the strong mystery is the thirtyish heroine, still grieving the loss of her spouse, her quiet faith in God and the profound look at not for profit groups that will have the audience ponder the ethics of the end justifies the mean.

Harriet Klausner

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