CONNED

Book excerpt: What do you do when your best friend is on the line- the business end of your fishing line? Finding his murdered best friend’s body drags a soon-to-be-retiring financial executive into the ruthless world of con artists and scammers that prowl idyllic Nantucket Island for unsuspecting marks. Chief Financial Officer Harry Bartlett hasn’t made plans for his impending retirement, but he’s happy for now vacationing on Nantucket Island at the compound of his best and only friend, Ian Bradford, a wealthy wine merchant. But that abruptly changes when he fishes Ian’s body from a Nantucket Island pond full of snapping turtles. Harry volunteers to break the news to Ginny, Ian’s widow, and is dumbfounded when she tells him that she has $20 in her wallet, a maxed-out credit card, and no knowledge of their financial affairs. Harry pays Ginny’s bills while he digs into Ian’s books with his unique financial insights. But the more he digs, the more he discovers Ian’s financial trickery and illegal wine businesses. Teaming up with his new girlfriend, Yvette Truque, a snarky local reporter, Steve Malarkey, and his ex-Mob enforcer relative, Uncle Louie, Harry must wade through a web of lies, deceptions and attacks- tossed overboard from the local ferry, a hit-and-run while bicycling, and attacked by ‘gator attack in Florida - to recover Ian’s money in time to keep Ginny and her two kid from being evicted from their home. Debut author Robert Ainsworth has created an eccentric cast of characters with tongue-in-cheek humor. CONNED is an intricate story with just enough financial detail to bring the reader into the story and feel-like-you-are-there descriptions of Nantucket. Harry Bartlett is no flat protagonist, but instead tackles the passions, loneliness,and compulsions that we all face. CONNED is a fast-paced, complex story that keeps your attention to the unexpected end.