The Lady The Lowcountry And The Diamonds By G. Hugh Bodell A Lowcountry Mystery A Novel Gallagher, a Forensic Accountant, who has lived in the Bronx, New York all his life, retires to the South Carolina Lowcountry, hoping to spend most of his time fishing and photographing. Our retired accountant has spent his career recovering funds in the tens of millions for a diverse clientele of individuals and organizations from around the world. Along the way, he learned the techniques and tactics in which he could recover funds without the drawn-out processes called for by courts and lawyers... and always left it to the victims as to what, if any, retribution, would be taken against the party responsible for filching the funds. While enjoying a day of fishing along the banks of the May River in Bluffton, South Carolina he becomes involved in a mystery that he cannot ignore. The sleuthing he undertakes will carry the reader across several points on the United States, Eastern Seaboard and introduce a diverse cast of characters. This is not a novel for those looking for blood, guts, shootouts, violence or sex. This is a mystery that will take the reader through a process of discovery, with many twists and turns, followed by a finale that is even shocking to our sleuth, Gallagher. With a sprinkling of humor, particularly when 'listening' to the reactions of the lifelong bachelor Gallagher, that are in his thoughts only. This is the first of the Gallagher's Tales series, all of which will be set in the Lowcountry. The South Carolina Low Country The Lowcountry is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. Once known for its agricultural wealth in rice and indigo that flourished in the hot subtropical climate, the Lowcountry today is known for its historic cities and communities, natural environment, cultural heritage, and tourism industry.
About the Author: I'm G. Hugh Bodell, I was born in The Bronx, NY in the early days of WWII and attended Catholic schools through college, all boys from the sixth grade. On graduating from Cardinal Hayes High School in 1956, I attended Manhattan College where I earned a BBA in accounting. After a tour of duty with the U.S. Army Artillery, I started my career in 1962, as an accountant with Haskins and Sells, one of the international accounting firms that were then referred to as the Big Eight. By 1979, I had progressed through a career in finance and the use of technology in financial management to the position of Chief Financial Officer of Citibank's Visa and MasterCard business. In the first half of the 1980s, I oversaw, as Chief Executive Officer, the growth of a $459 Million regional mortgage company to a $7.5 Billion Federal Mortgage Bank, one of the largest in the country at that time. In 1985, together with my wife Susan, a computer scientist, I founded a consulting firm specializing in technology-based solutions to processing and security issues in the Financial Services Industry. From 1985 through 2006, the firm serviced the largest financial organizations in the world, including, Barclays Bank, J.P. Morgan & Co., Citicorp, Merrill Lynch & Co., Credit Suisse, Prudential, Standard & Poor's, ING Barings and The United Nations. I had a six-year contract with the UN which ended September 30, 2006. November 6, 2006, because of an awesome theft (PC term 'accounting error), Paul Volker, in an audit, identified 29.7 Billion bucks missing from a UN Fund, I decided to reinvent myself as a mystery writer and present a fictionalized account of that pilfering episode. I have never looked back. It is now 2017 and here are the results of our (my wife joined me in this independent publishing endeavor) efforts: We have independently published, in Trade Paperback and E-Book, through our media company Sprig Media Group: Treachery In Turtle Bay Treachery In Turtle Bay II Nikita The First Three Novels In A Single E-Book Look For The Hook, Susan Jane Bodell's self-help book And now, a new genre for me, The Lady, The Lowcountry and The Diamonds, a Gallagher's Tale, Lowcountry Mystery What began as an attempt to write a simple mystery soon escalated into what has become the most exciting adventure of my career. ...and that briefly is my life to date!