MYSTERY

The Impersonator

by Mary Miley
Minotaur: St. Martin's. Sept. 2013. 356p. ISBN 9781250028167. $24.99; ebk. ISBN 9781250028174. M
COPY ISBN
In 1917, a young heiress went missing from her family's Oregon manor, and seven years later, her fortune will be distributed if she doesn't return soon to claim it. A con artist—Uncle Oliver—finds a charming vaudevillian actress willing to tackle the role of impersonating Jessie Carr; the deal is they will split the money. The new Jessie handles her part with aplomb, winning over most of the Carr family. But the orphan actress gradually realizes how much she likes this new lifestyle and family, and she finds the web of deceit a struggle. Unfortunately, the deadline looms, and someone sinister hasn't been fooled at all. That person doesn't plan to let "Jessie" act anymore, anywhere.
VERDICT Miley's clever historical debut successfully portrays an intricate puzzle featuring multiple cons. Her protagonist dazzles us with her fearlessness. Inspired by Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar, Miley's stand-alone is the winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition.
Reviewed by Teresa L. Jacobsen , Sep 01, 2013
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