False Conception

by Stephen Greenleaf

Overview

Performing a background check on a prospective surrogate mother for childless tycoons Millicent and Stuart Colbert, detective John Marshall Tanner uncovers terrible secrets when the surrogate disappears two months into her pregnancy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439106389
Publisher:	Pocket Books
Publication date:	03/01/1997
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Stephen Greenleaf got a BA from Carlton College in 1964 and a JD from the University of California at Berkeley in 1967. He served in the United States Army from 1967 through 1969. He studied creative writing at the University of Iowa in 1978. He wrote fourteen John Marshall Tanner books to date. Greenleaf lives in northern California with his wife, Ann.

Editorial Reviews

Stuart and Millicent Colbert can't conceive a child, but they have the resources to hire a surrogate mother. San Francisco private eye Marsh Tanner is employed to investigate the surrogate, Greta Hammond. The catch: Hammond must never know the identity of the Colberts nor that she's being investigated. Meanwhile, the detective's significant other is pushing him toward parenthood, a step that, at age 48, Tanner believes impossible. Complications arise on both fronts when Tanner infiltrates Hammond's life and--against all better judgment--her bed. When Tanner finds a distant connection between the surrogate and Mr. Colbert, Greta, now pregnant with the Colbert's child, disappears. Tanner is the only one who knows all the elements of the case, and he's forced to make Solomon-like decisions as he factors in his own confused emotions regarding parenthood, the welfare of the unborn child, and the lives of the three adult principals. Tanner novels are never just mysteries; Greenleaf always weaves in a larger human dilemma, and here he does it more successfully than ever before. This tenth installment is easily the best of the Tanner series. Too many mysteries end with the scent of cordite in the air; here we end with a tear in the eye. It's a nice change.

Wes Lukowsky

The legitimate heir to the mantle of the late Ross MacDonald.

Chicago Tribune