Michael Kapinsky must be living the good life. He’s young, handsome, smart... and rich. Sure, he lost his wife a few months back, but she was rich and much older and everyone knows what that means their relationship was really about—*wink* *wink*—right?

Wrong. Michael’s life is a mess and so is he. He was truly, deeply in love with Moira, totally devastated by her loss, and is unable to move on six months later. He’s not rich either. Bad investments and generosity when Moira inherited the money from her ex-husband had been paired with a free spending lifestyle, leaving Michael in deep financial hot water, unable to even keep up the mortgage payments on their dream house. Moira’s ex-husband’s family has closed in like sharks on what she left, with the precedent set by her prior gifts giving them a very good shot at swallowing it all. So Michael has returned to his old job as a crime scene photographer to begin moving forward while earning some badly needed cash.

When he explains that he can no longer afford her (not that they’re making much progress anyway), Michael’s therapist suggests he join a new group therapy she’s set up online in the Second Life virtual world, for free. Logging on at home, Michael realizes that the welcome screen looks familiar because it was up on the computer at a recent homicide crime scene. Weird coincidence, right?

He joins the Second Life detective agency a real life colleague has set up and meets a virtual "escort" with whom he connects like no woman since Moira died. But then the coincidence appears at another real life homicide scene. Real life and Second Life investigations show the victims were murdered virtually as well and their accounts destroyed. Meanwhile the $3million or so Michael needs to sort out his real life financial disaster mysteriously appears in his Second Life account...

I really enjoyed this. The descriptions of entering the virtual world as a newbie and coming up to speed on everything from walking your avatar down the street to virtual sex were very well done and really helpful for anyone unfamiliar with that sort of sim environment. Michael was a frustrating person to know at times, but all the more believable and real because of it. I did figure out some of the solutions in advance, but was enjoying myself reading enough to keep on regardless. Even if you’re not all that into computers and have no intention of entering Second Life yourself, give this one a try. It’s great to see something truly new in the mystery world done well.