Review of Lust, Money & Murder – Book 1
Lust Money and Murder is a three volume novel by Mike Wells, a tale of a young girl who tries to stand up for herself against all the odds. A gripping, fast paced narrative in a style reminiscent of Sidney Sheldon; you want to turn the pages faster than you can read them as the story twists and turns.
Elaine Brogan, a very bright and beautiful girl with Irish roots, grows up with her father after her mother ran out on them, and attempts to pursue a modeling career. She applies to a seemingly legitimate agency who extort a lot of money from her over training, until she eventually realizes that she has fallen for a fraudulent agency which deals with counterfeit money. Her father gets framed over the counterfeit money and eventually commits suicide in jail, giving Elaine a burning desire to hunt down the people responsible. She applies for Secret Service training as she looks to put herself in a position that she can utilize to hunt the fraudulent party down.
When she falls foul to one of her superiors after refusing his advances, she finds herself posted to distant Bulgaria. She takes up counterfeiting work with Nick Lagrange and as they work together she develops an attraction for him, although unfortunately for her, he doesn’t appear to share her attraction. They travel to Belarus together where he returns with a suspiciously large amount of money which he lamely explains is part of his operation to uncover a counterfeit ring.
When she gets a call from a former professor who informs her that her colleague is under investigation, she begins to suspect that the cash he had obtained in Belarus was indeed part of some shady dealings. Unfortunately by this point, Nick has already confessed his infatuations as well and they are now lovers, leaving Elaine with a dilemma: Does she stick with Nick, or should she run?
And this is how Mike Wells leaves us hanging at the end of Book One of Lust, Money & Murder