The Actress: A Rita Farmer Mystery

by: Elizabeth Sims

Published by: St. Martin's Minotaur

Reviewed by Knevits Stephens

Rita Farmer is a divorced mother of a four-year-old boy named Petey. She is an actor looking for work, whether it be in a movie, commercial, or whatever. She is in desperate need of money. The rent is due, and she and Petey need food. She has taken a job at the local library to tell stories to the kids. She figures desperate times call for desperate measures and the library pays fifty dollars.

While at the library one day she is approached by a man named Gary Kwan. He is a powerful attorney and wants to hire Rita, telling her he needs to hire an actor who can teach his client certain moves to help her get acquitted at her trial. The job pays one thousand dollars a day and another fifty thousands at the end if the client is acquitted. All she has to do is speak to the client in lock-up and show up at court pretending to be a paralegal.

Gary says he believes his client is innocent but that’s not for him to decide–it is up to the jury. The client on trial is Eileen Tenaway, a wealthy trophy mom on trial for killing her infant daughter. Eileen insists that she is innocent and that there was an intruder in the house. Rita teaches Eileen certain movements and expressions to use in the courtroom. The closer Rita becomes to Eileen, the more she wonders about the death of Eileen’s daughter and about her millionaire husband found dead in Brazil.

When Rita took the job of helping Eileen she was thinking about the money. What she thought was going to be an easy job turns into a nightmare. She is now watching over her shoulder and trying to keep her and Petey safe. She is hoping she can find the answers she needs before it is too late and anyone gets hurt.

This is a page-turner that keeps you interested until the end. If a mention of people being gay offends anyone, this book is not for you.

Armchair Interviews says: Another well-done cozy mystery.

Author’s Web site: http://www.ElizabethSims.com