Part of Lew Archer, book 11
First published 1996
A desperate young man approaches private investigator Lew Archer with a simple request: find his runaway wife. Archer takes the case and quickly locates Dolly Kincaid, but his success proves short-lived. Within hours of finding her, Archer discovers himself caught between two violent deaths. One murder reaches back twenty years into the past, its secrets buried but not forgotten. The other killing is so fresh that blood still stains the scene. As Archer digs deeper, he uncovers connections between the crimes that stretch across decades. The investigation pulls him into a web where past grievances collide with present violence. Each revelation brings new complications, and what began as a missing person case transforms into something far more dangerous. Archer must navigate through lies, hidden motives, and family secrets to understand how these deaths connect to Dolly's disappearance. The detective finds himself racing against time as the body count threatens to rise and the killer remains one step ahead.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: detective-story, unreliable-narrator
288 pages · Paperback · Vintage Crime/Black Lizard