FALLING INTO GREEN

A nature lover turns amateur detective in a story that combines mystery with relentless do-gooding.

When Dr. Esmeralda Green is the unlucky witness to a body being dragged up a cliff, she can’t help recalling the suicide of her best friend, who jumped from the same cliff some 20 years earlier. Charlene Pryce and Ez were always Charlie and Emerald to one another. They were so close that Ez was shocked by her friend’s death. In an even more shocking turn, the victim this time is Abigail Pryce, who, as the daughter of Charlie’s brother Anthony, would have been Charlie’s niece. The police are calling the death a homicide, and Ez knows that she has to find out the truth. Turning to Anthony for answers, Ez is glad to hear that Abigail was hard at work investigating abuses of nature. As an eco-psychologist, Ez has an appreciation for the riches of beautiful Majorca Point, Los Angeles, and is proud that Abigail grew to love the natural world as her aunt did. Though Ez can’t imagine who would want to hurt the young Abigail, it seems as though she may be in danger from the same culprits. Her sometime beau Gabriel Hugo García wishes he could keep Ez safe—if only she weren’t too stubborn to admit she needed his help.

Fischer’s debut may come off as preachy to all but the most avid friends of planet earth.