It's 2008 and Lizi just can't catch a break. On the heels of a nasty divorce and a paltry settlement agreement--barely enough to reload her Starbucks card--Lizi is laid off from her job during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Flat broke, Lizi takes a job at Whole Foods where she meets Frankie, a twenty-seven-year-old artist half her age whose overly simplistic worldview is exactly what Lizi needs to get on with her life. But after an unfortunate incident involving her ex-husband, his pregnant girlfriend, and a carton of cage-free eggs, Lizi finds herself, once again, out of a job.

So what does a fifty-four-year-old woman with no money, no job, and no prospects do? She sells all her possessions and goes to Paris in search of her long-lost dream: to write her first novel. But when the airline loses her luggage and offers her a meal voucher for the famed Hotel Jolie, Lizi pounces on the opportunity while unwittingly setting off a chain of events which land her at the center of the notorious Harry Winston jewel heist. And when her young partner-in-crime joins her in Paris, the two must outrun the Serbian mafia while trying not to trip over the dead bodies left in their wake.

Lauren Johnson is an American author who believes that life begins at menopause—not conception.

Whether pre-, peri-, or postmenopausal, Lauren loves to write about women of any age: women who may stumble at first but ultimately learn to embrace life’s challenges. Her characters are quick-witted and fearless women who know how to kick ass and look great doing it. Regardless of where you fall on the menopausal spectrum, The Lizi Cleverly Midlife Badass Detective Series reminds us all that no matter what our age or circumstances, or what others may have to say about it, it’s never too late to be a midlife badass.

Lauren lives in Oak Park, Illinois with her three kitties: Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, and Johnny Winter. “The Soufflé Also Rises” is her first novel.