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NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS
by Valerie Block
Ballantine, June 2003
333 pages
$23.95
ISBN: 0345461843


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

When the police knocked on Patricia Greiffšs door looking for her husband, Mitch, she was surprised to learn that, for the past three weeks, he hadnšt been to his accounting firm, where he was a partner. Although they were living in the same home, their lives were separate and didnšt even bother to keep track of each other. In fact, Patricia didnšt remember the last time she even saw him. She was completely stunned to learn that her fish-loving, boring husband had also embezzled $103 million from the company. No one, including Patricia, thought Mitch had larceny in him.

New York City police detectives, Dennis Sprague and Tony Ballestrino, proceeded to interview everyone at Greiffšs company and ended up focusing on Erica King. The best employee at the firm and the butt of everyonešs jokes, Erica didnšt wear makeup, didnšt care what her clothes looked like, bit her nails, had tangled unkempt hair, was at the office all the time, and didnšt like people. All the partners had wanted Mitch to fire Erica but he liked her no-nonsense ways and she did a lot to help him. She had been with the company for eleven years.

Detective Dennis Sprague had good instincts about people and he believed that Erica was up to something and he had every intention of finding out what it was.

Even though the topic appears to be a serious one, this book is filled with quite a bit of humor. The characters are fully developed people with histories and we learn a lot about them.

Erica had many problems stemming from her childhood. Her father died when she was a toddler and as she was growing up her mother volunteered Erica to help everyone who needed it. Her mother died when Erica was in her early twenties and all this helped to form an adult who hated everyone. But sometimes ­ with good reason.

Patricia Greiff and the missing Mitch had many problems with their 28 - year marriage. Their two sons were always a handful as children and also when they became adults. Using and selling drugs were just some of their pastimes.

Detectives Sprague and Ballestrino had things plaguing them as well. Sprague was in his third marriage, and this one seemed to be going well, that was until his wife told him that they both had to lose weight and eat better. This didnšt thrill the donut loving detective.

And Tony Ballestrino, in his thirties, still lived with his mother. Mom nagged him about going out and meeting women ­ but only the kind that she approved. To complicate things further, as Tony began to investigate the case, he fell in love with Patricia Greiff and started dating her!

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS is author Valerie Blockšs second novel and itšs completely delightful. Block has created an appealing story filled with humor and likable characters. You canšt help but enjoy almost every person you meet within its pages. I even found myself almost rooting for the cold and angry Erica. I thoroughly enjoyed all the twists and complications she created for the detectives who were trying to tail her.

This book is a great summer read, easy to get through with a good plot and lots of fun twists and turns. I recommend it to everyone.

Reviewed by Sharon Katz, June 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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