August 2018

In THE BANKER'S WIFE by Cristina Alger, Annabel Werner is living in Geneva, Switzerland, with her husband, Matthew, who works in finance at Swiss United, an offshore bank. Her world is shattered when she learns that he has been killed in a private plane crash. As she grieves, she finds out there may be a much more sinister reason for this crash. Her skills in the art world have her looking very closely at clues and facts that are not adding up.

At the same time, a young journalist, Marina Tourneau, who is writing for a society magazine, has learned that her much-loved boss has died unexpectedly. He had been in deep about a story, which involves some very powerful men in the financial world and nefarious offshore trades. As Marina starts using her research chops to sniff around to try to figure out what happened, she runs into a real dilemma. The people she is writing about are very close to some people she knows. So does the story get told? And is it connected to what happened to that airplane?

This is a fast-paced, well-done look inside the world of offshore trading where the numbered accounts may belong to anyone, including terrorists and world leaders who have a lot to hide. And the way the money gets hidden is not exactly legal, or above board. I have often heard the line "Follow the money," and that is exactly what people are doing here. Cristina had written a book called THE DARLINGS back in 2012, and reading THE BANKER’S WIFE has me wanting to track that one down as I like her writing style!