Miranda "Munch" Mancini has seen the worst of times, but she's still looking for the best. A recovering addict and auto mechanic, she's now a single mother and a fledgling businesswoman trying to run a limousine service. But being her own boss means she can't afford to turn down a client, even when a seedy government type offers her big money to drive around a foreign businessman...

The problems start when Munch promises to hire Ellen, an old friend fresh out of prison, as a driver. Next thing Munch knows, though, her friend, her client, and her Cadillac are missing in action, and the police are at her door.

With the custody of her adoptive daughter on the line and Ellen's life in Jeopardy, there's nothing Munch won't do to help her pal, police detective Mace St. John, solve the case. But if there's a brutal murderer on her trail, what can Munch do -- which won't get her killed -- to stop him?

Amazon.com Review
Just when things seem to be going relatively well for recovering addict, ex-prostitute, ex-con, and whiz-bang auto-mechanic-cum-limo-service-magnate Miranda "Munch" Mancini and her 6-year-old adopted daughter, Asia, she encounters a world of good-intentioned hurt from an old druggie friend, Ellen. Fresh out of prison and just 16 days sober, Ellen is determined to get her life back on track. When things on the outside don't go according to plan, she turns to Munch, who does the right thing by offering Ellen a couch to sleep on and a part-time job as a limo driver. Before you can say "That Ellen, she's going to be trouble," that Ellen becomes trouble when she drives Victor, a Romanian diplomat with a taste for the seedier side of Western life, and Raleigh, a misogynistic and unscrupulous CIA agent, to Tijuana. And, naturally, she doesn't tell Munch.

Serial murder, mayhem, and numerous foreign and domestic intrigues follow in Unwanted Company, ex-mechanic Barbara Seranella's fast-paced third novel. Like No Human Involved and No Offense Intended, it features a cast of well-defined if invariably impaired characters, including Munch's refreshingly normal--that is to say, normally troubled without being psychologically tortured--pal Detective Mace St. John and his partner, the self-doubting Detective Cassiletti. Stylish, spare, and finely tuned, Unwanted Company is an early entry in what promises to be a long and happy run for Barbara Seranella (certainly) and Munch Mancini (please). --Michael Hudson