Philip Mongeau

A murder mystery that illustrates the main cause of the Great Recession, told by Detectives Judy Prior and Alexis Kinyara who were assigned to investigate possible bank fraud in Sarasota, Florida in 2006. Their inquiry led to murder and a coverup of mortgage fraud that was encouraged by Wall Street bankers’ insatiable appetites for subprime mortgages, repackaged as complex financial instruments then sold to investors. The house of cards that led to worldwide bank failure had already begun to collapse and there were those who would do anything to keep it standing. The Straw Buyer brings life to the cause of the financial collapse and introduces an odd couple of investigators: Detective Judy Prior, a Central Florida native, wonders if she was partnered with Rwandan Alexis Kinyara simply because she never complained about orders, only to realize that she was attracted to him. Judy's life becomes threatened by the greed of those who sought profits at any cost. Woven into the fabric of this fast paced novel, the reader experiences the heartbreak of those who lost everything, as did four million American families since 2007.