Finalist for the American Fiction Awards in Best New Fiction

She's poor and naïve. They're rich and dangerous.

At once a painful coming-of-age novel, an exciting amateur sleuth tale, and an intriguing narrative involving social issues (immigration and wealth disparity), Money Matters has mystery at its core. This emotionally charged debut novel is firmly embedded in Los Angeles culture over the 2010 mid-term election.

Jenny, the 27-year-old inexperienced protagonist, faced with the tragic disappearance of a friend, is forced to take on financial tycoons, corrupt politicians, and the treacherous Baja drug cartel in her search to uncover the truth. Jenny’s investigation takes her into the twilight world of undocumented immigrants, which leads her to seek the help of the handsome director of an immigrant rights organization to whom she is strongly attracted. But will the deadly enmity of the rich and powerful thwart her search and end her budding romance?

About the Author

Brian Finney is a writer and Professor Emeritus of Literature at California State University, Long Beach. Educated in England, he obtained a BA from the University of Reading and a PhD from the University of London. Between 1964-1987, he taught and arranged extra-mural courses for the University of London. Since immigrating to the US in 1987, he has taught at the University of California, Riverside, University of Southern California, UCLA, and California State University, Long Beach.

He has published eight books including Christopher Isherwood: A Critical Biography (1979, which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Terrorized: How the War on Terror Affected American Culture and Society (KDP 2011/2018), and Money Matters: A Novel (August 2019), Finalist, American Fiction Awards.

He is married and lives in Venice, California