Hi, my name is Lexi Winslow. My dad was a diplomat and as a child, I grew up living all over the world. I learned to speak a ton of different languages, but so many moves left me a bit of a loner. He passed a few years ago and I’m currently in my mid thirties.

If you want to know about my day, you’ll need to know a little more about my past.

My troubles started the spring that I was on a job in Australia. I was an ace bank fraud investigator by then, working for a major international bank in New York. You’d think I would have known better. I’d already been around the world — and the block — a few times.

But no, I had to unwittingly fall in love with a con artist. The very kind of man it was my job to catch. We married on Easter weekend in the garden outside the cathedral in Sydney. The skies were a brilliant blue, the scent of roses filled the air, and I was crazy in love.

A week later, he was gone and so was my client’s Rembrandt.

You probably saw in the newspapers that I was arrested for being his accessory. Even though the charges were dropped for lack of evidence, I was told never to return to Australia or I’d be arrested. My New York employers couldn’t fire me fast enough. “Lack of evidence” is not considered the same as “innocent” by the banking industry.

Now I work for the only place that would hire me. It’s a small, privately owned bank in Beverly Hills where half the staff thinks I was probably guilty of the Rembrandt theft. I keep my head down low, track the bank’s would be fraudsters on my computer, and practically live in my office with the door closed.

This morning, my boss sent me after a man who stole three million from one of the bank’s clients. A normal day and a common enough job, I think. Trace the wire transfers made by the thief and recover the money. But it turns out this one’s not so simple. There are three major problems.

1. This thief is good. Really good. He had the money wired through a string of countries including the Cayman Islands. Countries which are not too interested in returning it.
2. The thief isn’t who he said he was. In fact, he didn’t exist before two years ago.

I decide I’ll check out his house and see if I can find any ideas that will help my search. He’s probably he left the country by now, but maybe he left some clues behind.

I do find a trail to the money at his place. Unfortunately it leads to Australia, the last place on earth I want to go.

Did I mention the third problem? The money went to Australia, but the thief’s not going anywhere. He’s dead.

I wish a normal day for me didn’t include dead bodies and visits to police interview rooms.

Bushwhacked in the Outback, A Land Sharks Mystery #2
Genre: Cozy
Release: January 2022
Purchase Link

“If you can’t follow the money, follow the body.”

Lexi loves her job as a Beverly Hills bank fraud investigator. It lets her pursue scam artists and con men – known in the business as land sharks.

Sadly, one crook left her with a broken heart and a destroyed reputation. And the bank’s president is looking for any excuse to fire her.

Yet she risks everything when she follows a dead embezzler’s casket to Coober Pedy in the Australian outback. She knows it’s a gamble, but it’s her last hope to recover the bank’s stolen money. Unfortunately, she’s persona non grata in that country. She needs to get in, find the money, and get out before the Australian police discover her presence. But will the unexpected appearance of an ex-lover make her linger too long?

If you like cozy mysteries in exotic locations with deadly secrets and touches of humor, then you’ll enjoy the multi award winning Land Sharks Cozy Mystery series.

Meet the author
Nancy Raven Smith grew up in Virginia, where she ran and participated in horse sport events. On their farm, she rescued horses, dogs, and cats and is an advocate for animal rescue. Later in California, she traded her event experience for film work. Her screenplays and novels have won numerous major awards. When not writing, Raven Smith enjoys her family and friends, travel, art, movies, and white-water rafting. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Women in Film. Visit her at nancyravensmith.com.

All comments are welcomed.