"A romping good time "-"LesbiaNation.com" on "The Wombat Strategy" Owning half a detective agency is not as exciting as it sounds when your partner won't let you solve any cases. Transplanted Aussie Kylie Kendall is frustrated as all get out, and she spends most of her time hanging out with her receptionist and sampling the Los Angeles nightlife. But that's about to change. Twins Alf and Chica Hartnidge, the hosts of Australia's hit children's television show "The Oz Mob," hire Kylie to find out who's smuggling opals into the United States inside their Kelvin Kookaburra plush toys. A syndication deal and a load of money are riding on whether Kylie will shut down the smugglers, but a murder (or two) makes the stakes even higher. Claire McNab is the author of "The Wombat Strategy," as well as 18 other best-selling mystery novels. She has served as the president of Sisters in Crime and is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America. She lives in Los Angeles.