Born Claire Avery Montgomery, she had not legally changed her name to Avery Mason, but had used the moniker in the byline of her first article for the LA Times when she was twenty-eight years old. It stuck. Not coincidentally, it was the same year her father was indicted for one of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history. The name change was a strategic move made after she graduated law school and tried to escape her family’s legacy. Being the daughter of Garth Montgomery had ended her legal career before it started. No one would trust the daughter of one of America’s greatest thieves to honestly pursue criminals, so she hadn’t tried. With a useless law degree and a family lineage she was trying to expunge, she fled New York and landed in Southern California. She fell back on her undergraduate degree in journalism to secure a job as a beat writer for the Los Angeles Times. It paid little and was a far cry from the life she had left behind. Once the daughter of a billionaire and the recipient of a trust fund meant to provide a lifetime of financial independence, she landed in LA and for the first time in her life needed to fend for herself.

Soon after starting at the Times, she stumbled across the story of the missing Florida toddler. The story was picked up nationally, and her investigation gained the attention of Mack Carter. She, as Avery Mason, was asked to appear as a guest on American Events to tell the story, which led to a three-part special. The final two-hour episode included the dramatic footage of Avery, followed by American Events cameras, accompanying the police when they made their disturbing discovery in a shed behind the grandmother’s home. Mack Carter had been so impressed with Avery’s investigative instincts that he asked her back on the show several times that year. She was just twenty-nine years old at the time. The frequent guest spots led to a more permanent role as a regular contributor. Her ratings proved the young journalist popular. After two years as a contributor, she was asked to join the show permanently as co-host. When Mack Carter died she found herself in the unlikely position as the new face of one of America’s longest running newsmagazine shows. On the surface, Avery Mason was a young, successful journalist with her entire career in front of her. Inside, she was a nervous wreck that the attention would shine a spotlight on her past and link her to Garth Montgomery—her father, the Thief of Manhattan.