False Profits [Hardcover]

Patricia Smiley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 2004

In her stylish and suspenseful "Los Angeles Times" bestselling debut, Smiley introduces a heroine caught up in a roller-coaster adventure, where living by the law of the corporate jungle makes her fair game for a cutthroat killer.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An engaging, down-to-earth heroine—a successful L.A. management consultant with a charming weakness for her Porsche Boxster—more than compensates for a predictable story line in Smiley's first novel. When investors accuse Tucker Sinclair of doctoring a business plan, they approach Sinclair's boss and mentor, Gordon Aames, and demand their $11 million back. Sinclair goes in search of the plan's primary author, a brash neurologist, Milton Polk, and discovers not her elusive doctor but a policeman with a Polaroid of the dead Polk. In an unlikely scenario, Sinclair injects herself into a charity luncheon given by the highly suspicious Wade Covington, a powerful man connected both to Aames and the murder victim. Clarification of Covington's murky relationship to Polk and of a convoluted insurance scam take up most of Sinclair's energy, though she finds time for sparkless visits with her ex-husband and skirmishes with her Aunt Sylvia, who's determined to get her hands on Sinclair's beachfront cottage. A romantic interest appears on the horizon in the last few pages, a clear indicator that this book hopes to be the first in a series. With fresher devices and plot turns, it should be a pleasure to see Sinclair in action again.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* It's hard to believe that this clever and engaging adventure is Smiley's first novel; it reads like the latest in a well-established series. Smiley's heroine, 30-year-old divorcee Tucker Sinclair, works her tail off at a downtown L.A. financial-advising firm and relaxes at her Malibu-area beach cottage; that is, she would relax if her actress mother wasn't a current houseguest. When her mom goes off to a shamanic retreat, leaving her daughter to care for Muldoon, the wicked Westie, the tuckered Tucker relishes the quiet. But things don't stay quiet for long--a shake-up at work has Tucker in danger of losing the partnership she has worked hard to earn. After writing a business plan for Dr. Milton Polk, who wants to expand his radiology practice, Tucker is shocked to discover that a different, crazy plan has been presented to investors--one of whom wants to sue. To top it off, Polk is missing, and all the paperwork in his file has disappeared. Combing L.A. for clues, Tucker encounters a dead body--and a hot body belonging to a handsome police detective. Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum will appreciate the gutsy and klutzy Tucker. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press (November 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892967900
• ISBN-13: 978-0892967902
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,393,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a Profit or a Loss, April 19, 2007

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: False Profits (Mass Market Paperback)

Tucker Sinclair thinks she's on the fast track to making partner at Aames & Associates, a Los Angeles based business consulting firm. She just has one last interview with her boss before the announcement.

That interview doesn't go anything like she expects, however. Instead of reviewing her performance at the firm, Gordon announces that she and the company are being sued for some work she had done for Dr. Milton Polk. Dr. Polk had come in wanting Tucker to write what he told her to write and was less than pleased with her honest business evaluation. Now some investors in his medical company are saying they were defrauded and are suing to recover their money.

Tucker thinks she doesn't have anything to worry about until she discovers the original report for Dr. Polk is missing. When he turns up dead, she really starts to panic. Can see find the documents and save her career while dodging a killer?

I am a sucker for books set in Los Angeles, and this one proved to be fun in that regard. As a mystery, it fell a little flat. The plot was a little too convoluted for its own good. It makes sense, but it needed a little more time to be ironed out. Tucker was fun to spend time with, although I felt she was very naive, especially when it came to her ex-husband. The side kicks are wonderful, from co-workers to her actress mother and the mother's dog.

Honestly, my complaints feel like rookie mistakes. I certainly wouldn't mind spending more time with Tucker and her friends. I just hope that the plot has been better developed next time.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent amateur sleuth!, November 15, 2004

By 

Betsie's Literary Page (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: False Profits (Hardcover)

For seven years, 30-year-old divorcee Tucker Sinclair has worked for the financial advising firm Aames & Associates as a management consultant and is now being considered for a partnership. However, her risk taking methods make others within the firm somewhat nervous. Though since completing her work with Dr. Polk, a neurosurgeon, who was in need of capital expansion, Tucker feels confident she'll get it.

That is until the Doctor turns up missing, money can't be accounted for and the firm is being sued for 11 million dollars!

To make matters worse - her original files, which prove the claim is incorrect, are missing, and her Aunt Sylvia who has conveniently moved in with her dog suddenly claims the Malibu beach cottage that Tucker's grandmother left to Tucker in her will, is hers! What Aunt Sylvia doesn't reveal is that the land the cottage sits on is worth about 2 million.

Faced by a wall of secrecy, Tucker has too many unanswered questions, leaving her with no choice but to investigate the crime or face criminal charges of fraud and embezzlement. She has one week in which to clear her name, identifying Polk's accomplice and the person who helped alter her business plan, while Mo Whitner threatens to turn her into the FBI, which could probably turn up an insurance scam as well.

Tucker isn't going to waste a second, and finds herself investigating the crime-desperately hunting for clues. Her amateur sleuth skills lead to a number of high-level individuals, as well as her ex-husband, Eric, her own staff, the doctor's insane receptionist, and confrontation with autopsy photos.

False Profits is not only the author's debut novel, but is well written, fast paced and fresh. The result is a book you have difficulty leaving once you begin its reading. Sinclair Tucker, the fiery heroine would make Jessica Fletcher proud! Patricia Smiley is a talented author, and certainly one to keep an eye on - in a sequel perhaps?

Reviewed by Betsie

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fast Paced Mystery Adventure, March 30, 2005

By 

FictionAddiction.NET - See all my reviews

This review is from: False Profits (Hardcover)

Tucker Sinclair is a successful management consultant working in fast paced Los Angeles. A big 11 million dollar deal she's working on with a big name client goes awry and Tucker finds herself with a whole lot of blame pointing at her and a bullseye on her forehead.

Tucker begins a fast moving adventure of dead bodies, shady investors, annoying ex husbands and a cranky old aunt who is trying to take claim over Tucker's beach home over some bad family history.

The mysterious business plan gone bad takes on a life of its own and takes over Tucker's life sending her running all over town to solve this who done it before time runs out.

Patricia Smiley's first novel is sure to capture many fans cheering for Tucker Sinclair with False Profits. Readers will be hoping and waiting in anticipation for more.


Patricia Smiley's first novel, False Profits, packs a punch of memorable characters, a fast paced mystery adventure and a fantastic heroine.