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Wayne Weston is dead, a suicide. His wife and child are missing, presumed dead. The police are looking for Julie and Betsy Weston, but not having much luck. Wayne's father, John, asks private eye Lincoln Perry to find what's left of his family. Perry agrees to take the case, even though his partner, Joe Pritchard, a retired cop, is convinced that the cash won't be worth the hassle. Pritchard is probably correct, depending on how one views the big picture. Perry has a friend, Amy Ambrose, who is a reporter for the Cleveland Daily Journal; she provides Perry with background (and other)information in return for possible scoops at a later date. Between the information Amy gets and Pritchard's rapport with his former co-workers, Perry is able to connect some dots that the police don't. The conclusions he draws lead the investigation in two directions, neither of them likely to result in an easy solution. Perry tackles the aspects of the case dealing with the Russian mafia and their boss, Dainus Belov. Some of his minions have vandalized Amy's car and scared the bejesus out of her, something not easily done. Pritchard get the job of interviewing Weston's former partner Aaron Kincaid and of tracking down Weston's links with Jeremiah Hubbard. Hubbard is one of Cleveland's wealthiest, and therefore most powerful, men; Weston had worked for several companies owned by Hubbard, and mentioning Weston's name gets Perry and Pritchard into Hubbard's office without an appointment. One of the loose ends in the police investigation is Weston's friend Randy Hartwick, a former Marine buddy from South Carolina. When Hartwick surfaces in Cleveland, Perry and Pritchard convince him to speak with them. Before they get beyond polite pleasantries, Hartwick is shot with a high-powered rifle. It is possible that Kincaid had something to do with this death, but just as possible that the Russians took him out. What did he know that was so important? TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE has a very convoluted plot, with enough twists and turns to keep one reading long past one's bedtime. There is nothing in the plot which is outside the realm of possibility, and most of it seems very likely, given the circumstances. Perry and Pritchard are a great team. There isn't a lot of information about their pre-partnership lives, but one hopes to learn more about them in future books. The bantering and work-related dialogue indicates a friendship and trust which bodes well for the business. My personal take? There has been a lot of hype about Koryta and TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE -- as the winner of the St Martin's Press/PWA Prize for Best PI Novel, that's not surprising. This is a very good first novel, almost stunning in its maturity and complexity. I have recommended this book to any and all of my mystery-reading friends who might possibly enjoy it. Usually I donate my review copies to either the local library or to one of several military hospital libraries. I am keeping my copy of TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE, because I know I will be rereading it when his next book comes out. If you like Hammett and Chandler, if a well-plotted PI novel with great characters makes you salivate, if you want a book that leads you around by the nose . . . get this book. Read it. It will be money well spent. The hype is well-deserved, for a change.
Reviewed by P. J. Coldren, November 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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