Cynthia Smith

Emma Rhodes has categorized herself as a Private Resolver'. What this means she will take on the investigation of any situation and promise it's resolution in 2-3 weeks. If she is not successful, which of course never happens the client is not obliged to pay her. Her fee is 20,000 pounds and the client a is always willing to pay up.

She does well enough at her work that she is able to keep a small house in London, New York and on the sunny coast of Portugal known as the Algarve. She is relaxing here in Vila do Mar after a grueling case when she promises to investigate the death of a young American minister who was found drowned. He was an excellent swimmer and hated drugs so when the verdict is suicide after heavy cocaine use the parents know something is fishy.

Emma is perfectly placed to help out because she knows the area and most of it's denizens and what she discovers shocks even her.

The pace is rapid with a satisfactory ending for all but the parents of the dead man of course. This series of books is very hard to come by but they are enjoyable and different from the usual. Emma might be a little too perfect for some, but she makes it work.

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This is the first in The Casebook of Emma Rhodes series. Emma is a self-professed "Private Resolver." (Private Investigator is too mundane.) If you're well-heeled and have a problem that you want resolved quietly, give Emma two weeks. If she has the problem resolved, you pay her $20,000. End of story.

Emma is smart, pretty, and works solely to finance her lavish lifestyle. She has homes in New York City, London and Val do Mar, Portugal. She likes to dress well, eat well, and be paid attention to by charming, intelligent, handsome men. That's enough to put most people off right at the beginning, and normally it would put me off as well, but it didn't. It didn't take long for me to get past the lifestyle, looks and clothes to discover that Emma and I see eye to eye on many things. Besides, she insists on being called Emma instead of her legal Emmy Lou because of Emma Peel, so she can't be all bad.

This first book has Emma in the right place at the right time. She prevents a child from being kidnapped in Brussels and discovers that the child is related to the Queen of Belgium. The Queen has another problem, and Emma is enlisted to resolve it.

Noblesse Oblige was a very quick read. It's fun and quirky, and the mystery isn't telegraphed from the first page. I'll be looking for more.… (more)