Synopses & Reviews
In 1917, Jessie Carr, fourteen years old and sole heiress to her familys vast fortune, disappeared without a trace. Now, years later, her uncle Oliver Beckett thinks hes found her: a young actress in a vaudeville playhouse is a dead ringer for his missing niece. But when Oliver confronts the girl, he learns hes wrong. Orphaned young, Leah Randall has been acting since she was a toddler.
Oliver, never one to miss an opportunity, makes a proposition—with his coaching, Leah can impersonate Jessie, claim the fortune, and split it with him. The role of a lifetime, he says. A one-way ticket to Sing Sing, she hears. But when shes let go from her job, Olivers offer looks a lot more appealing. Leah agrees to the con, but secretly promises herself to try and find out what happened to the real Jessie. Theres only one problem: Leahs act wont fool the one person who knows the truth about Jessies disappearance.
Set against a Prohibition-era backdrop of speakeasies and vaudeville houses, Mary Mileys Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition winner The Impersonator will delight readers with its elaborate mystery and lively prose.
Review
“Miley shows a deft touch and sets a blistering pace in her debut novel. Leah Randall/Jessie Carr leaps off the pages in this “Roaring Twenties” period piece that drips with bathtub gin, truck-size cars, outsize personalities, money, high stakes and enough twists, turns and sleights of hand to keep one reading late into the night…Simply put, this book is FUN.”
—DAVID BALDACCI
“Mary Miley has delivered a tale that lures us into the dangerous underworld of Prohibition: rum smugglers, bootleggers, and the glamorous lost realm of vaudeville…a realm so real that we can almost smell the greasepaint. The Impersonator is an exciting debut!”
—KATHERINE NEVILLE
“The story is engrossing, the characters satisfyingly larger than life, and one can only hope for an encore from the smart, feisty, and talented heroine.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
“Historian Miley, winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award, presents a colorfully detailed mystery…and a heroine whom readers will want to see succeed.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
“[A] spirited debut…Compelling characters, an engaging story line, and a heroine with lots of moxie make this a thoroughly enjoyable read.”
—BOOKLIST
“Miley's clever historical debut successfully portrays an intricate puzzle featuring multiple cons. Her protagonist dazzles.”
—LIBRARY JOURNAL
About the Author
MARY MILEY is the winner of the 2012 Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition. She worked at Colonial Williamsburg, taught American history at Virginia Commonwealth University for thirteen years, and has published extensively in history and travel. The Impersonator is her first novel. Miley lives in Richmond, Virginia.