Author Frances Aylor is passionate about travel and investing. She has visited the Forbidden City in China, the Hermitage in Russia, the Wailing Wall in Israel, and Iguazu Falls in South America. She enjoyed white-water rafting in Costa Rica, parasailing in Mexico, hot air ballooning in Sedona and whale watching in Alaska. She worked in investing for many years and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and worked for 26 years in the financial services industry. She served as president of CFA Society Virginia. MONEY GRAB is her first financial thriller. Connect with Frances at www.francesaylor.com.
Over Easter weekend, Money Grab traveled to Hot Springs, Virginia to visit the Omni Homestead Resort, first established in 1766. Twenty-three U.S. presidents have visited the resort, famous for its mineral waters, nationally ranked golf courses, and variety of indoor and outdoor activities, including tennis, horseback riding, and falconry. The Easter bunny, dancing spring flowers … More Money Grab Visits the Homestead
Author Ruth Ware, riding the popularity of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, has published The Woman in Cabin 10. Like The Girl on the Train, Ware’s book has an unreliable narrator. Did journalist Lo Blacklock, who is prone to panic attacks, really witness a murder? Or was it just a hallucination brought on by … More Turning to Mysteries: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
What if your team lost 90% of its games year after year? Would you stick with it? Most active fund managers are facing this dilemma. The SPIVA® U.S. Year-End Scorecard for 2016, issued by S&P Global, shows that over the past fifteen years, the performance of 92% of large-cap fund managers, 95% of mid-cap managers, … More Picking Winning Stocks
Money Grab has several scenes set in the Caribbean Island of St. Martin, which is half French and half Dutch (St. Maarten). The French side has topless and nude (Orient Bay) beaches and marvelous restaurants. The Dutch side has cruise ships, casinos and festive street markets. Parts of the island are incredibly lush, with beautiful … More Travel Tips: St. Martin
In the Woods by Tana French is one of my favorite mysteries ever. It’s set in Ireland, where three children disappear overnight in the woods behind their homes. The next day one of them is discovered clinging to a tree, scratched and bloody, with no memory of what happened. The other two are never found. … More Turning to Mysteries: In the Woods by Tana French
March Madness means college basketball, that wild scramble to the final 64-team roster in the NCAA tournament. Sports fans eagerly toss money in the pot and fill out brackets to predict the winner. It’s a classic risk/reward decision – should you bet on the top teams, or go for the long shot? Money Grab has … More The Odds of Madness in March
This month Money Grab travels to Croatia, located in Central Europe along the Adriatic Sea. Its beautiful beaches and medieval buildings make it a popular site for tourists. The Croats first settled the area in the 7th century A.D. After World War I, Croatia merged with Yugoslavia. In 1991 Croatia and other areas of former … More Travel Tips: Money Grab Visits Croatia
What better way to celebrate spring and the start of baseball season than by reading Parker Field, a mystery about baseball? Especially when the book is written by Richmonder Howard Owen, who is one of the founders of James River Writers, a local writing group. In the novel, Owen brings back his crusty protagonist Willie … More Turning to Mysteries: Parker Field by Howard Owen
April brings flowers and baseball. But it’s also a frantic time for anyone in the investment business, as companies with a fiscal year end of December 31 start to report their first quarter earnings. As I wrote in Money Grab, this can be very stressful: Companies that beat Wall Street analysts’ estimates could see their … More The Power of a Penny
Bayeux is one of the few Norman towns that wasn’t destroyed by either the Americans or the Germans in World War II. We stayed on the third floor of the Villa Lara Hotel, directly across from the cathedral, consecrated in 1077 and famous for its beautiful stained glass windows. … More Travel Tips: Bayeux and the Normandy Coast
Frances Aylor 