Gypped

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Authors: Carol Higgins Clark

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When Regan Reilly returned to the West Coast, where she began her career as a PI, she never imagined that her unsuccessful appearance on a game show seven years earlier would throw her trip totally off course!

REGAN REILLY
is in Los Angeles with her husband, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad. After Jack finishes his meetings with the LAPD, the couple may head north to the wine country, or may head south to Baja. Their only plan is to see which way the wind blows.

The first day back, Regan goes shopping at an upscale new mall in West Hollywood. To her surprise, she runs into Zelda, a woman she’d become friendly with seven years before at a television studio in Burbank, when they were waiting to appear on the game show
Puzzling Words.
They haven’t seen each other since.

Zelda and Regan didn’t win much money, but Zelda made up for it! A year ago an elderly neighbor she barely knew left Zelda eight million dollars. She has been enjoying her newfound wealth but is aware of the need to give back. At a recent fundraiser, she bid on a week’s stay in an old Hollywood Hills estate and was the lucky winner. She’s currently in residence there and invites Regan to a party at the mansion.

While Jack attends a business dinner, Regan goes to Zelda’s by herself, unaware that she is being followed. Regan is more than surprised at the rundown condition of the house and grounds. People should be paid to stay here, she thinks.

Zelda introduces Regan to a colorful cast of characters, including her old neighbors, friends from her yoga class, a filmmaker, Zelda’s financial adviser, her bookkeeper, and her personal assistant. It’s all good fun. As the guests are leaving, Zelda asks Regan to stay for a cup of tea. They’ve barely sat down to chat when Zelda falls ill. A worried Regan doesn’t want to leave Zelda alone and decides to spend the night at the isolated, aging estate.

It’s not long before Zelda asks Regan to investigate people in her life, starting with her father’s new wife, Bobby Jo. The couple said “I do” in the back of a cab at a drive-through chapel in Las Vegas after only three months of togetherness.

Has Zelda’s windfall put her in danger? Regan is determined to find out, not knowing that she’s a target herself!

Praise for previous Regan Reilly Mysteries

MOBBED

“A fun, delightful, and entertaining tale.” —
The Washington Times

WRECKED

“Another thrilling mystery . . . Unexpected plot twists and Clark’s trademark humor make
Wrecked
a perfect weekend read.” —
The Daily Beast
(Hot Read of the Week)

CURSED

“Carol’s mysteries use humor to propel the action. . . . Her sense of humor comes through on the page.” —
The Houston Chronicle

ZAPPED

“Fast paced and very funny.” –
The Irish Voice

CAROL HIGGINS CLARK
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of fourteen previous Regan Reilly mysteries. She is coauthor, along with her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, of a bestselling holiday suspense series. Also an actress, Carol studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, has recorded several of her mother’s works as well as her own novels, and was recently seen in the TNT movie of the Clarks’ Christmas book
Deck the Halls
—the book in which Regan and Jack Reilly meet. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Carol lives in New York City and Los Angeles.

Visit her website at
www.­carolhigginsclark.­com.­

MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.­com

THE SOURCE FOR READING GROUPS

JACKET ILLUSTRATION BY MARK STUTZMAN
AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY DEBORAH FEINGOLD
COPYRIGHT © 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER

B
OOKS
BY
C
AROL
H
IGGINS
C
LARK

Mobbed

Wrecked

Cursed

Zapped

Laced

Hitched

Burned

Popped

Jinxed

Fleeced

Twanged

Iced

Snagged

Decked

W
ITH
M
ARY
H
IGGINS
C
LARK

Dashing Through the Snow

Santa Cruise

The Christmas Thief

He Sees You When You’re Sleeping

Deck the Halls

Scribner
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Carol Higgins Clark

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Scribner hardcover edition April 2012

SCRIBNER and design are registered trademarks of The Gale Group, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
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.

Designed by Carla Jayne Jones

ISBN 978-1-4391-7031-1
ISBN 978-1-4391-7033-5 (ebook)

Acknowledgments

M
y gratitude to the following people for the part they played in Regan Reilly’s latest adventure.

My editor, Roz Lippel, to whom this book is dedicated. As always, thanks for all your hard work, dedication, and support.

Associate Director of Copyediting Gypsy da Silva.

Scribner Art Director Rex Bonomelli.

Senior Production Manager Lisa Erwin.

Scribner Publishing Associate Jessica Lemp.

Designer Carla Jayne Jones.

My agent Esther Newberg.

I’d also like to thank my readers, some of whom I get to meet on book tours or in the course of everyday life. There’s nothing like finding myself in a discussion about what Regan and Jack should do next! It’s helpful and fun to hear your comments and suggestions. But every reader who welcomes the Reillys into their world plays a part in bringing them to life. For that I am truly grateful.

For Roz Lippel
My editor and friend
From
Fleeced
to
Jinxed
to
Wrecked
to
Gypped
And all the others in between.
Working with you is the opposite of my titles!

Contents

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