Money Matters, Brian Finney’s sensational new novel of manners and mystery charts the social and political complexities of contemporary Southern California with a superb ear for dialogue and an experienced satirist’s honed blade. The novel follows Jenny, an irresistible, funny and accidental detective as she finds herself unraveling the unexplained disappearance of a young woman she admires. As we follow her through a riveting mélange of political intrigue, drug cartels, immigration activism and the recurring umbrella of Total Surveillance—the company for which she briefly works—the darkness underlying the sun-drenched facades of Los Angeles begins to grow visible, and that darkness looks exactly like money. Don’t miss this gripping and powerful novel of figures just like your own friends, all of them facing a culture’s—and our own—shifting fault lines. --- David St. John, award-winning author of The World’s Body
In this timely immigration story taking place in West Los Angeles, Money Matters is a story about two sisters, Tricia and Jenny who are conflicted in every way from politics to money to men. Tricia, the controlling sister, cannot seem to keep herself from offering Jenny advice in blunt terms, like exclaiming ‘get real’. The writing was layered, beautiful and draws an emotional response from the reader, I was in tears at the end and I cannot say enough good things about this novel. It is incredibly smart, current, witty, lively and well-paced. - Aurora Roman, bookseller
Money Matters lets us taste the rich flavor of the many small worlds of Southern California through the adventures of the two highly likable main characters, a white middle-class young woman and an Americanized illegal Mexican young man. Mix in a murder mystery, drug cartels, dirty politics, a Yuppie sister, falling apart parents, and a lot of mouth-watering meals, and I guarantee you'll have a great read. – Dorothy Braudy, artist
