On her wedding day, right before the ceremony, right there
in the Greek Orthodox church, Sofie Metropolis discovered
her groom and her maid of honor in each other's arms. Sofie
took this as a sign, and since then, she's been doing her
best to confound her own, and her family's, expectations.
First, she is no longer waiting tables at either her
father's or her grandfather's dueling Greek restaurants in
Astoria, Queens. Second, she kept the engagement ring (the
garbage disposal choked on it) and all the wedding
presents, including the small apartment building that was a
gift from her parents. It's not easy to collect rent from
an eccentric group of tenants that includes a trio of
lackadaisical business school students and a nice little
old Jewish lady who plies Sofie with ethnic delicacies, but
at least Sofie has a roof over her head. And her ex-iance's
recliner in the living room.
Sofie also has a new career, thanks to uncle Spyros's
detective agency. Okay, so far, the cases haven't been all
that exciting-mostly, Sofie's been tracking down lost pets
and cheating spouses-but at least she's in control of her
life. And even Sam Spade had to start somewhere.
Then Sofie's mother's best friend, Mrs. Kapoor, who seems
to dose everything, even tea, with curry, reports that her
dog has been stolen. Sofie must drop everything to search
for the meanest mutt on the face of the earth . . . .
The agency's usually unflappable office manager comes to
Sofie in terror because the neighborhood "vampire" has
disappeared, replaced by his even creepier nephew . . . .
Tailing a wayward wife, Sofie is caught in a shoot-out and
is rescued by Australian man-of-mystery Jake Porter, who
might be a bounty hunter and who definitely gets Sofie's
engine started . . . .
And what is Jake Porter doing in the middle of Sofie's
adultery case anyway, and why is the cheating wife now on
the run?