Stephen Greenleaf: False Conception (USA 1997)

From the Publisher:
Hailed as "a real writer with real talent" by The New Yorker, Stephen Greenleaf "delivers incisive social observations, passionate characterizations, and fine writing" (The New York Times Book Review). Now in this mesmerizing novel of dark family secrets, San Francisco detective John Marshall Tanner enters the realm of a powerful fashion empire, and it is "a fascinating journey" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune).

SOMETIMES THERE'S NOTHING HARDER TO CONCEIVE THAN THE TRUTH
Leading lives of wealth, power, and privilege, Millicent and Stuart Colbert have it all... except a child. Considering Greta Hammond as a surrogate mother, they hire detective John Marshall Tanner to do a background check, stipulating that Greta must never know their identity. With some misgivings, Tanner undertakes the investigation and gives Greta the all clear: the Colberts' embryo is implanted in her womb.

Two months later, Greta suddenly disappears. And the search for answers not only takes Tanner deep into the Colbert family's haunting legacy, but also leads him to shocking revelations about the case... and about himself.

Stephen Greenleaf: False Conception. Pocket Books, ISBN: 0671007947 (March, 1997), 336 p., $5.99.

Stephen Greenleaf: False Conception (USA 1994)

From the Publisher:
I recapitulated. "Five days from now, one of their embryos goes in the surrogate, and from then on she's pregnant with the Colberts' kid."
"If the implant takes, as they say."
"It's spooky, sort of."
He shrugged. "The governor evidently thought so. But it's a godsend to people like the Colberts." Russell looked at me quizzically. "You got any objection to any of this, Marsh? In principle, I mean?"
I shook my head. "I haven't thought about it before today, but I don't think so."

When San Francisco detective John Marshall Tanner is hired to do a background check on a prospective surrogate mother, the job seems simple enough. There are only two stipulations -- the surrogate must not know the identity of the contracting parents, and the investigation must be completed in three days. With some misgivings, Tanner checks out Greta Hammond and gives her the all clear. Two days later, the embryo of Millicent and Stuart Colbert is implanted in her womb.

Two months later, Greta Hammond disappears. The Colberts think she has taken the fetus to barter in an extortion attempt. But days pass and no ransom request is made, no ransom suggested. It soon seems clear that Greta learned the identity of the child's parents and immediately fled. But why? The answer takes Tanner deep into the secrets of the Colbert family, whose history includes both murder and incest and a bitter struggle for control of an immense fashion empire.

Stephen Greenleaf is the author of nine previous John Marshall Tanner books. Prior to writing, he practiced law in Monterey and San Francisco. He now lives and writes in Seattle.

Jacket design by Dennis M. Stredney / Finite Matters Limited

Stephen Greenleaf: False Conception. A John Marshall Tanner Mystery. Otto Penzler Books, ISBN: 1883402875 (November, 1994), 273 p., $22.00.