PITTSBURGH, January 14, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- A prominent surgeon in a suburban Pittsburgh town seems to have it all: a successful practice, a lovely wife, promising children. Nothing can go wrong in the Smetana household, until the good doctor takes a poor teenage immigrant named Greta under his roof. "Greta" (now available through 1stBooks Library, Amazon.com and booksamillion.com), by Alex Ellenbogen, takes readers through the mysterious circumstances that seem to pursue Greta and plague the people around her.
When Dr. Paul Smetana's wife dies, he marries his housekeeper Deirdre, who, together with her adult son Johnny, makes life difficult for Dr. Smetana's children, Phil and Erica. Not long after, Paul dies under suspicious circumstances. Having no one left to turn to, Phil tells Greta of the abuse he and his little sister suffer at Johnny's hands. Phil has fallen in love with beautiful, sexy Greta by this time and feels comfortable confiding in her. Soon after, the Smetana household is once again shaken as Johnny is found stabbed to death.
Johnny's murder is never solved, but the perpetrator may yet be caught years later when detectives are led across the Atlantic by the death of Johnny's mother in England. Greta has left the Smetana's to work for a much older and wealthy Swedish industrialist who falls in love with her. They marry and when he dies, Greta inherits half his fortune, much to the chagrin of his four children. With Phil as her right-hand assistant, Greta rules her husband's industrial empire.
Readers will be carried away by the tension and excitement found in practically every page in Greta as they follow Detective Morgan and other investigators from the United States and England in trying to untangle the intricate web that was spun around Greta and her husband's children, her relationship with Phil -- who is still unsuccessfully in love with Greta -- and the still-unsolved murders.
Ellenbogen is a semi-retired engineer/CPA and was often seen in tennis courts until he had hip replacement surgery. He now shuttles between Pittsburgh and Boca Raton, writing mysteries "with a little sex thrown in."
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