Her old boss Sal is friends with a famous Hollywood director, Tyler Beckett, who lives in a fabulous house in Malibu. Since he had married a younger woman Tasya, his teenaged daughter Jennifer has been acting strangely. He rents Madeline the small guest cottage on the property so there will be a stabilizing presence there when he and Tasya are gone.

Madeline had left New York without a plan, but conversations with Jennifer and others bring her to a decision. She’s going to be a day trader. A practice week convinces her that she can make a comfortable living.

She’s invited to an A-list Hollywood party hosted by Tyler. There she meets B-list Emily, who is crashing the party in hopes of making contacts. Emily, Madeline, and Jennifer agree to go to dinner and a movie together.

Clubbing with Emily, Madeline encounters an ex-boyfriend from college, Ernest Carmichael Billings. Ernie informs her that he’s going to be named CEO of a small company, Langton Regional Group. Knowing Ernie’s record, she believes that LRG’s stock is bound to rise once the announcement is made. On her first day of trading acting on the inside tip, she buys large chunks of LRG stock expecting to make a quick profit.

But LRG’s stock starts to fall. A call to Sal turns up the information that Ernie has disappeared. Not only is Madeline’s money at risk, her mother has invested, too! And Jennifer seems to have vanished. Madeline goes looking for Ernie and becomes a suspect in his kidnapping.

If your knowledge of stocks and trading isn’t too vast, you may feel that you’ll be at a loss understanding what it means for Madeline to become a day trader. Not to worry. There are ample explanations for a variety of investing techniques and details of Madeline’s financial situation. Does that sound kind of dull? It is.

Mad Money is the first in a Madeline Carter series. Now that the foundation has been set perhaps future installments will be more exciting, but this one takes a long time to get going. Madeline needs to find a place to live. Madeline needs to make money. Madeline likes seeing famous Hollywood types. Madeline is becoming a Malibu Barbie. It takes nearly one-third of the book for Madeline to get settled in California and ready for action.

--Lesley Dunlap