The Girl with the Phony Name

By Charles Mathes

Book Overview

So reads the fine lettering on the back of the intricate, ornate Celtic brooch Lucy MacAlpin Trelaine has just inherited. Lucy, an independent twenty-nine-year-old orphan, has devoted a considerable amount of time and energy trying to unravel the mystery surrounding her past. Having contacted everyone in five hundred phone books whose name even vaguely resembled Trelaine or MacAlpin to no avail, all she knows is that her parents were killed in a car crash in western Massachusetts twenty-eight years ago. Her luck changes when she sees a newspaper ad from a law firm inquiring as to the whereabouts of one Lucy MacAlpin Trelaine. The ad leads her to an "inheritance", which is no more than the Celtic brooch stolen from her after the car crash so many years ago, but it does provide her with a fresh trail of clues to follow, clues that take her to New York City. To make ends meet while continuing her investigations, she takes a job with hyperactive business entrepreneur Tak Wing, owner of the Neat 'n' Tidy chain of funeral parlors. Determined to help Lucy find her true identity, Tak Wing insists that they travel to the Scottish Hebrides, with Lucy disguised as a punk rocker. From kidnapping to grave-robbing to tea with the local laird, Lucy's adventures propel her toward a conclusion that may shake the British Empire to its foundations.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373262469
• ISBN13: 9780373262465
• Release Date: July 1997
• Publisher: Harlequin Books
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely wonderful read - couldn't put it down!

The book is so well written and the characters so likeable that it really bothered me to be done with the book! I simply adore Tak Wing and his unique fellow employees as well as Lucy, the main character. Though I also thoroughly enjoyed his other book and Emma Passant, this one is my favorite of his and of any other author I have read yet this year.

Jolly fun! Don't miss it.

This is the best sort of light read: excellant characters, compelling plot, and WONDERFUL humor. I wanted it to go on and on....and I totally agree with the first reviewer: let's have an encore!

Everyone should have a Tak Wing in their life!!

This was my best book of the year and one of only two "ten" ratings I gave in '97. I want to know Tak Wing. Do you think he will move to Eugene, OR? Lucy thinks of herself as a failure but is a winner with every turn of the page. Suspenseful & delightful! I WISH this was the first in a series, HINT! HINT!

One of the best mysteries I've ever read

Fabulous! The story is so original, the characters are so dear and funny, the writing just flies. I loved the ending, but hated that it ended -- you simply want Lucy and Tak Wing to go on forever. Bravo!

This book was enjoyable to the end.

Ending up with a boss that makes people into paperweights certainly is a new career choice. My thanks to Charles Mathes. Everytime it seems as though Lucy had reached the end of her search the next chapter would add a new element to keep your interest. The treasure was a pleasure. I am patiently waiting Lucy and Tak Wing's return.