Calculated Loss - Madeline Carter Novels Author:Linda L. Richards It's been years since former stockbroker Madeline Carter bothered thinking about her gastronomically gifted ex-husband, Chef Braydon Gauthier. Between quitting her soul-sucking career and discovering what life is like during daylight hours she's been kind of busy. But when Madeline learns Braydon took his own life, she drops everything and hight... more »ails it to the funeral. It doesn't take long to realize Braydon's death is more murder than suicide. Madeline knows her ex would never have prepared himself a poison-laced dinner of duck à l'orange--let alone pair it with a big, beefy Shiraz. The culinary star would have eaten fast food first. So who's responsible? Madeline definitely has her suspicions, but one thing's clear: in the pressure-cooker world of high cuisine and higher stakes, a reputation is worth killing for.« less
CALCULATED LOSS By Linda L. Richards: Madeline Carter is a former New York stockbroker turned day trader, now living in Malibu. In this third outing she learns that Braydon, star of the Food Network and her former husband, is dead, officially a suicide. When she goes to Vancouver to the funeral, her ex-mother-in-law asks her to look into the business Braydon has built, thinking something is amiss. Those initial suspicions are confirmed when Madeline learns Braydon supposedly killed himself through dining on a poisoned duck a l'orange and beef Shiraz. Knowing Braydon would never have had that type of combination meal because of the conflicts in taste, she begins seriously investigating. This brings out all kinds of suspicions regarding possible financial malfeasance that led to the murder of Braydon and might even precipitate a second “suicide” if she isn’t careful. Well plotted and well written.