Galilea, Galilea

A gutsy young science geek-a physicist, who has a liking for unaffordable haute couture and heavy drinking-gets a job teaching physics at Pasadena City College and finds herself diving head first into a crime-posing-as-an-accident in a Santa Ynez cult. Her physics background proves to be an advantage in solving this crime, and a new career is born: Forensic Investigator (with style and booze).Thirty-something Galilea is not the author's alter ego; she is based on a physicist, who, at the age of seventy-eight, still works as a forensic investigator. The story offers a thriller with a twist-very real physics. Since the heroine (the fictional one and, yes, the real one too) lives in Pasadena, and the author grew up in the area herself, Richman has embedded some of the best and quirkiest parts of the city-and neighboring Sierra Madre-into her story. In fact, one of the elements that makes her book a standout is a "Visitor's Guide" to Pasadena cloaked in a series of crime-solving capers. Galilea, Galilea takes the reader into the tony neighborhoods and bars of Pasadena, the hippy era canyons of Sierra Madre, and the rolling wine country of the Central Coast, with a humorous eye and a fashion commentary on vintage haute couture and trendy cocktails.And yes, this story (tongue-and-check humor, and all) is truly based on a real character.