Devil's Paw

Adventure/Mystery/teen
Emily Divico faces her summer vacation with dread of staying with relatives she hardly knows in a strange country she's never seen. On top of that, she's sure she caused her parents' divorce by betraying her father. And she will be the last one he wants to see. She's right about that but not for the reasons she thinks. Dad's in danger up to his neck and before long Emily will be the only one who can save him. Her determination to save her gambling-addicted father from the clutches of loan sharks takes her through the beguiling and bizarre city of Palermo, Sicily. In a land where police cannot be trusted, Emily recruits aid from the most unlikely candidates of all. Can wits and broomsticks take on the illegal underground and hope to win? Unwrapped corpses in catacombs and criminals might be enough to frighten off most detectives but, with only days to save her father's life, Emily can't give up.