Finley is suspicious when her always critical mother offers to sell her the house that her adopted father, the man Finley knew as Dad, always wanted to Finley to have for the rock bottom price of $25,000. There is also what seems like a generous provision to allow Finley to fix up the place. Finley's mother’s hobby is marrying and divorcing, Jonathan Tanner adopted Finley as a toddler, her birth father unknown to either Finley or her mother.

Finley has no idea what a dump the beachfront cottage is. However, because she can’t pass up the bargain, she signs before seeing the cottage which is complete with a real life (well, sort of) skeleton in the closet, holding the medallion Finley gave Jonathan when she was a child.  Finley learns that Melinda Redmond, a former foster mother, had been renting the house, but was gently let out of the lease when developers tried to condemn the cottage so they could knock it down and build more McMansions. 

Finley has a game bunch of friends, however, who continue to cheer her on, redesign the shack, help keep her on track financially and even find a reliable, cheap contractor.  Still, Finley feels a bit responsible for “her” skeleton, and figures it must be one of Melinda’s foster kids, so she beings to track them down, one by one, eliminating them one by one, first as victims, and then as suspects. 

After several burglaries and attempts on her life and Finley is sure she’s on the right track. With the help of hunky investigator Liam McGarrity and hot new boss Tony Caprelli, Finley hopes to uncover the victim’s identity, solve the murder, move into her home, and have a date for next Saturday night.

 Fat Chance is a fun, fast-paced read that combines the glamour of Palm Beach with some money-saving shopping tips and a pretty good mystery.  Finley is a fun character who is very down-to-earth and heartfelt and who is as good a friend as her friends are to her.  Her love life (or lack of) is complicated as she fights her attraction toward Liam, fends off ex-boyfriend Patrick and lusts after new boss Tony, even though she knows that’s an office no-no. 

Her investigation skills are honed from her job, and she tries to keep her research ethical as she goes through her search.  She usually has pretty good instincts about people, though she misses a big one, and chalks up a big clue to meaning something else, things most readers will probably catch easily.  There are a couple of clever twists in the plot, though not entirely unexpected.  The storyline is fast moving and Finley is a character readers will enjoy rooting for and will look forward to visiting with again. 

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry