Though the action in Mad Money takes place in New York and Los Angeles, BC writer Linda L. Richards, editor of the Web site JanuaryMagazine.com, is proud of her Vancouver roots. "I have lived in Los Angeles, California; Munich, Germany and Vancouver, British Columbia, where I was born," Richards says on her Web site. "No matter where I go, though, Vancouver calls me back. I've come to the conclusion that some people are born in the wrong place and spend their lives trying to find the right one. And some of us -- I have to think we're the lucky ones -- get put where we're meant to be. There's something in the air there. Something in the water. I can go away, but I always have to come back."

Mad Money is a breezy debut" Adam Woog reported in the Seattle Times. "Stockbroker Madeline Carter, recovering from witnessing a murder, reinvents herself as a day trader in Los Angeles. Her mistake is investing heavily in a company whose CEO is an old boyfriend. When he goes missing, the stock plummets and Madeline, trying to figure things out, lands in all sorts of trouble."

"Mad Money does what many have tried and few have managed," says Alafair Burke, author of Judgment Calls and Missing Justice, "to turn stock swindles and corporate crime into a fun, roller-coaster read. The key is Richards' strong, witty, and likeable heroine, recovering stock broker Madeline Carter."