Book description
Jessica March is back, sleuthing in Parkdale. She's on the trail of
an extortionist whose known victims are young refugee women students
at her school. If the extortionist's victims refuse his demands for
money he hurts them, or he shows them the doll. No one who has seen it
is unaffected, and no one will explain its power.
Jess and a group of female students are chosen to find out if there
are other victims, too traumatized to complain. But the group is
almost paralyzed by problems of its own: hot disagreements,
personality clashes, jealousies, and worst of all, the possibility of
an infiltrator. Someone (wittingly or unwittingly) is warning the
extortionist. He evades every potential trap.
Jess's "sort-of" boyfriend is also giving her trouble.
Excluded from the hunt for the extortionist, Jon feels discriminated
against. Jess tries to placate him, but in doing so wonders if she's
telling him too much. She wonders if he's passing the information on
to his friends, including the very attractive and likeable Anthony,
who almost fits the description of the extortionist. Or does he?
Mary Ann Scott has had many careers: mother of five, teacher,
mature student, family-law lawyer, divorce mediator, multi-cultural
and race relations worker, and immigration lawyer. In her spare time
she is a voracious reader of suspense fiction. Her first Jessica March
Mystery, Ear-Witness, was released to critical acclaim in 1996,
and was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Novel.
