Spy Mom

New York: Guideposts, 2010. First Printing . Hard Back. Near Fine/As New. 5 3/4" x 8 1/2. Carlson, Johathan - Cover. 265 Pages. Glossy laminated wrap-around illustrated cover. No defects noted and interior text pages are flawless. Dust jacket price 19.99 is unclipped. A life-changing diagnosis inspired a churchgoing suburban soccer mom to make her biggest dream come true: becoming a private eye. Until Val Agosta's diagnosis, few knew how passionately she-a lover of Nancy Drew mysteries as a child-fantasized about becoming a hard-boiled female gumshoe. Motivated by her illness to finally pursue her goal, Val opens her own private investigator firm and becomes an under- cover mother. She invents wildly funny and unique ways to get at the truth, like using her feminine weakness to cajole a man suspected of health insurance fraud to lift heavy bags of soil for her. She does stakeouts in between grocery store runs and handles custody cases before picking up her kids from school. She finds lost loves, reunites adoptees with birth parents, and nabs Internet scammers. Her weapons are woman's intuition and mom smarts, powered by a deep Faith. Together with her various business partners, Val turns everything that might be considered a liability-gender, age, Family, illness-into assets and becomes an inspiration to anyone pursuing a dream despite tremendous odds.