Alex Bellamy, 28, is unemployed and struggling to make ends meet after being fired from Revenue Canada. Lena, his 20-year-old girlfriend, gets him a job with her employer, McKinley's Department Store. Someone is trying to extort $10 million from the store chain's owners with threats of making McKinley's electronic files inaccessible. Alex is hired to figure out the code to unlock the store's files.

The McKinley patriarch is in declining health and his three children, who now run the stores, don't see eye-to-eye. The threesome make it difficult for Alex to get to the bottom of the threat. Alex also thinks the murder of Zachary Ternoway, brother of a former employee, may be tied to the extortion threat. Stir in a few former and current disgruntled employees and the pot gets even dicier. Luckily, Alex enlists the help of friend Tristan and former girlfriend Jillian.

Author Debra Purdy Kong weaves an exciting tale mixing murder with high-tech hacking. Suspects abound and readers will be surprised by some of the turns the story takes. I felt a connection with the characters, especially Alex and Jillian, and look forward to reading more Alex Bellamy adventures. I recommend "Fatal Encryption" to all mystery lovers.