Imperfect Imposter

A story of unbridled ambition, dynastic power, and criminal deception. Private investigators Elvyra Prezly and Charles Paladino are hired to root out a doppelganger sent to destroy their client's reputation. In early January 2079, Lars Dotermann moved from Redwood, Minnesota to Las Cruces, NM to take over the practice of a retiring dentist. His eleven-year-old daughter, Kirsten, refuses to move; she is still grieving for her mother, Diandra, who died in her sleep ten months ago. Lars grieves, too, but he sees a future for them in Las Cruces and asks his mother to convince Kirsten to join him.            A week later, Lars is reunited with his family, but Kirsten, still angry, ignores him.            He plans a tour of the Mesilla Valley near Las Cruces. The day before, he went to get his twice-monthly haircut, but the receptionist tells him he's already been there. The same thing happens again at the monthly meeting of the local dental society. The impersonator strikes twice more at a café in Mesilla where Lars and his family ate. Bewildered, he tells the café owner about the impersonator and she suggests he contact Prezly-Paladino Investigations.            When PIs Elvyra Prezly and Chuck Paladino meet with Lars, they find surveillance devices in his office and jacket pocket, and disable them. They gather information through interviews and public information sources, which leads them to a possible suspect.            They confront Lars after finding out he has held back important information about his late spouse's background. He admits that Diandra's ultra-wealthy family is suing him and, in two weeks, he's due in a Minneapolis courtroom to refute the family's accusations.            Only weeks away from celebrating their second anniversary in Cody, Wyoming, Elvyra and Chuck go undercover to expose the impersonator and pressure him into revealing why he was sent to ruin Lars Dotermann.