Review: Deeply Involving Double Mystery
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2014
One Always Chooses Paris by James ConroyAnita Gold is working in the jungles of Nigeria for Cartwright Industries, an International Development company, when she is suddenly pulled into a deeper, darker jungle: Cartwright Industries headquarters in New York City.But not before she meets a singular individual, Ezra Paris, a half-French, half-Argentine who is among the mercenaries sent by Cartwright Industries to take her out of the danger zone.  Paris’s confidence and wit attracts Anita, and they spend some time together in Sierra Leone before she leaves for the USA.Even though their meeting is brief, Anita fantasizes about meeting him again, and more.In New York, her experience includes facing down insurgents and protecting her projects by paying off local commissioners or tipping strategic people, but other than that she plays things by the book. Though she enjoys fieldwork, her new position involves making the project spreadsheets look impeccable.Though desk work and city living is not her preference, the job is a huge promotion, possibly partly due to the fact that Cartwright Industries is a large client of Anita’s father, Jack Gold, who owns a large insurance company.As Anita asks questions about the allocation of money on several of the project, she quickly learns that Cartwright’s director, Keith Lessing, and deputy, Arthur Zeller, like that she’s smart, but don’t want her to be too smart. She tries to compromise and make the books balance. She has a feeling that if she can’t, or if she probes too deeply about what’s really going on at Cartwright Industries, she’ll face a more menacing enemy than she faced in the jungles of Nigeria.And if she does, will Ezra Paris come to save her this time?