Deadly Assets by Wendy Tyson, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Image consultant Allison Campbell takes on two new clients only to have both of them disappear within a day of meeting her, in Deadly Assets, the second mystery in this series by Wendy Tyson.

"Two clients. Two disappearances. Too much of a coincidence?" Allison is puzzled. One client is an elderly woman, who was trying to prepare for taking over as CEO of the family's multi-million dollar international company and the other an 18-year-old singer, who had secured a spot on a reality show and needed help preparing for the limelight. Neither would know the other, and in the brief time Allison had spent with them, neither seemed to have any enemies. And yet, they are both gone. Their families don't seem overly worried over it, and the police don't suspect any foul play … but they do find it suspicious that the last person either saw was Allison's assistant, Vaughn. Concerned that the police may spend more time trying to pin their unexplained absence on him than actually trying to find the two women, Allison decides to look into the matter herself.

Deadly Assets follows a twisted trail through multi-generational family dynamics and corporate conspiracies. Most of Allison's time is dedicated to finding Francesca Benini, set to take over control of Benini Enterprises after her brother has a stroke and falls into a coma. Although her two nephews seem concerned about their aunt's disappearance, Allison knows that they are next in line to run the company should she be unable to do so … and she wonders how sincere their concern really is. Allison's mentor Mia gets involved in the investigation, and some of the narrative follows her activities, which helps fill in some of the backstory without being overly intrusive. Much of the appeal here is that as the story pushes the bounds of credulity, all involved seem to realize how incredible what they're discovering really is. And yet, that they think so too makes it all the more plausible to the reader. Allison, with the help of Vaughn and his brother Jamie, eventually links the two disappearances, but the path there takes many unexpected turns, a real treat for fans of well-written, superbly crafted mysteries.

Dying Brand
Henery Press (Trade Paperback), May 2015
ISBN-13: 9781941962596; ISBN-10: 1941962599

Deadly Assets

An Allison Campbell Mystery by Wendy Tyson