I had no difficulty at all reading this book with its American cultures etc - I simply enjoyed being in Nicole’s shoes as she solved the mystery. The tabloids had a field day with the story, referring to the perpetrators as the All’s-Well Kidnappers. A.’s downtown central library, behind the books on a shelf holding copies of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well. The ad for her condo had billed it as in a security building, but she’d noticed there were two hefty deadbolts on the front door, as well as a sturdy chain lock, which suggested that whoever lived here before hadn’t considered the building that secure.

I can see a really close working (and personal) relationship developing between these two in the future. He delivered fifty thousand dollars ransom in cash—unmarked bills of assorted denominations—as demanded.

The Moscow Affair is a thoroughly entertaining and unforgettable thriller punctuated by smart dialog, richly crafted scenes, and a topical plot. Robert Rexton is convinced his daughter-in-law faked her own kidnapping, and his son died trying to save her. Rexton was silent before he went on, perhaps thinking about his son’s birthday, which was never going to happen. The murder of the firm’s in-house investigator, his mysterious wealth, and his inexplicable bequest make Nicole a target for the police, the paparazzi, and the killer.

They stepped into the afternoon heat and walked to the edge of the redwood deck where a flight of stairs led down to the pool. Nor did they look for missing persons, except for the rare occasions when an important client’s minor child ran away.

When the building stops shaking, Nicole finds Jerry, her boss, in his office dying of a gunshot wound. As a single woman, there is always the opportunity for romance and I was pleased the author left that opportunity open for Nicole, in the future. He was to gain full control of the money on his thirtieth birthday, which would have been in three years. Boyarsky’s weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine’s adventures both nightmarish and dreamy.

Now you get two points of view, the main focus being Nicole but a substantial although secondary focus on Stephanie.As her sight adjusted, she looked around and, still seeing no one, fixed her eyes on a gold statue standing on a mahogany table in the center of the room. Inside, the lobby was minimalist in décor so that the front wall of windows, with its view of the beach and water, provided the focal point. In her latest novel, "Boyarsky's imagination serves up a court case that plays with expectations during an era where we push to believe women, resulting in some real bad baddies whom it feels good to root against. She did say her father was in the service and that she was born in the Philippines where he was stationed at the time.

Nicole Graves finds herself in the crosshairs when she reluctantly agrees to babysit a witness in a high-profile rape trial. She tried to read, but her mind kept shifting back to the previous year and the way she’d come into Blair’s unwanted bequest. After the investigator assigned to the case fails to do his job, Nicole is determined to find the killer on her own, no matter the risks. She also contributed to political anthologies, including In the Running, about women’s political campaigns, and The Challenge of California by the late Eugene Lee.Several attractive, well dressed women had just settled into a nearby booth, and he was watching them. This book sits in a neutral place with me - I can't say I loved it, and I can't say I disliked it either.