Part of Lew Archer, book 8
First published 1996
A wealthy elderly woman approaches private detective Lew Archer with a cold case. Her heir vanished twenty years ago with a woman of questionable character. Archer takes the job without much hope of success given the dead trail. Then a sudden murder shifts his investigation in an unexpected direction. Instead of finding the missing heir, Archer uncovers a headless skeleton, encounters a clever criminal, and meets a frightened blonde woman. His investigation reveals an elaborate scheme that proves inventive even by California standards. The case pulls Archer deeper into a web of deception where nothing is what it initially appeared to be. Old family secrets collide with fresh violence as Archer works to untangle the truth from decades of lies.
Genres: 20th-century, suspense, mystery, crime, detective, mystery-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: deception, unreliable-narrator, web-of-lies
Setting: California
Period: 20th-century
242 pages · Paperback · Vintage Crime/Black Lizard