Counterfeit Wife

Counterfeit wife

Review 

Counterfeiting takes skill, an engraver, printer and the right apparatus. Fooling people by handing them fake money and nit getting caught is the basis for the deception, fraudulent acts, greed and murder used to silence anyone that gets in their way. 

Becca and Daniel are quite good at investigating crimes and they are sent to Philadelphia to uncover who is passing and printing counterfeit money. Pretending to be husband and wife helps them accepted into this status and class oriented society and gives them an invitation to reside with a wealthy and well know merchant, Thaddeus Barnes. 

General Washington enlists the two unlikely spies into action to search for the traitors in Philadelphia. Traveling there at his request to uncover and find out who has been flooding this city with counterfeit money and why. In order to seem or appear as if they belong and are married, Becca engages and befriends the richest women in the town, the members of the Ladies Association of Philadelphia. Daniel seeks out printers for information. 

As they investigate many members of their new environment come into light and we meet My Taylor a merchant whose luck ran out, whose wife has it hard as we learn that he might be involved in the counterfeiting scheme. Mr. Barnes has connections in high places but at times jumps to conclusions about Becca and Daniel. We meet Mr.Preiss a merchant whose character is suspicious and whose wife suffers at his hand . Then, events get complicated and Hannah who Becca meets at her home looking for a donation for the soldiers, tells her she’s her mother and it gets interesting. 

Mrs. Preiss explains that they were hoping to purchase a property for a farm. Money was tight and then it wasn’t. Her husband invested with Mr. Taylor and it all fell apart. He has a wife who cares for him, but what was he running from?

Mr.Taylor was killed and the list of suspects is large but they arrest her mother, Hannah. Preiss has a serious drinking problem and it changed him. Plus he saw Taylor’s body and Daniel questions him about what was stuffed in Taylor’s mouth. Money is at the root of all of the actions to follow but just how do they link to the murder and counterfeiting? 

Daniel voiced he was interested in investing in a printing company and contacted a man named Rooney Corrington leading him to uncover another murder, the motive, and why the money again. 

Becca is great with lists and she compiles a list of suspects in Taylor’s murder. 

Charlotte Taylor, Missy his mistress and mother of his child, Jacob Preiss drunk and on the dock that night, Maura and the traitor’s wives where Taylor pressed them to sell their homes for a pittance including Hannah and Maura who worked as a team as healers. 

Then Daniel is wanted for the murder of Rooney and the hunt is on. Learning that Rooney was printing the counterfeit bills for Taylor. Plus a note that Daniel received from whoever killed Rooney. But, there’s much more. 

Becca takes Daniel’s side and realizes if Taylor had led the counterfeiters he would have been paying the printer for his services. Rooney was paying Taylor every  2 weeks. When Barnes puts out and realizes the truth he now knows that these fraudulent dollars are being spread throughout North America and maybe more. 

There is much more that is uncovered by Becca before the truth about who profited from counterfeiting and who is not what they appear to be. 

The author’s research into the period is extensive and adds to the credibility of the story, the characters, and the period. 

Facing President Reed, Daniel shows him the ledger that Taylor and Rooney worked on as a team. Then confronting Taylor’s wife got tragic hearing her voice, the truth about Missy, and the fact that she’s gone. Hear her truths first and understand what she endured as the author highlights facts about the life of a slave. 

Just who is hiding in sun sight. Who is the mastermind behind yhe counterfeiting and how is the killer revealed is the work of our creative author Mally Becker keeping one step or more ahead of the reader until the shocking ending. Will Becca get her mother freed? What about Daniel? Where is their relationship headed and will he take the position offered to him? Lives are hanging in the balance and truths and surprises are still to come.

Fran Lewis just reviews