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It's a pretty standard story being told by Gordon Clark, one that a PI specializing in recovering children has heard many times before. There's been a divorce. At first the wife, Joan, followed the visitation procedures as laid out by the court. But now she's not allowing Gordon to see their 7-year-old daughter, Melissa. Joan Clark is the daughter of a well-to-do plastics manufacturer by the name of Carlon and currently residing in Florida with another man. Melissa was not to be removed from the state of Minnesota without the court's permission, therefore putting legal custody in the father's hands. So Gordon is clearly in the right. If he weren't, Alo would never become involved. Yes, a standard case just like the ones Alo Nudger has handled many times before. But if there weren't any complications, this book would have been a short story. Nudger goes to Florida and finds the child, a dead body and a missing mother. What's even more puzzling is that Joan Clark has been living in rather impecunious circumstances and that her father was not even aware that she was nearby. He then hires Alo to continue the investigation to find Joan even though that's outside the scope of his usual work. I found this book to be very satisfactory and was pleased to make the acquaintance of a private investigator heretofore unknown to me. Alo has a few interesting quirks, the most prominent being that he has an extremely nervous stomach and is constantly popping antacids. Lutz writes in the style of Bill Pronzini. The plotting is excellent, with many twists and turns that never result in a loss of credibility on the part of the reader. The Alo Nudger series (10 books) is now high on my To Be Found list.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, November 2001
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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