Summary: Amos Walker is hired by Francis X. Lawes, a private-sector mover and shaker in Detroit politics, to prove that his wife, Paula, who disappeared under sinister circumstances more than six years ago, is dead. Francis wants to remarry without having to wait for the seven-year declaration-of-death rule to kick in. Walker's investigation is complicated by two facts: the police still consider Lawes the prime suspect, and the first-responding officer in that old case was killed in the line of duty shortly afterwards and his notebook has never been found. The question for Walker is, if Lawes is guilty, why would he put himself in jeopardy of arrest and prosecution by giving the forensics team a body to work on?-- Provided by publisher.
A new Amos Walker mystery from award-winning author Loren D. Estleman!
Amos Walker is hired by one Francis X. Lawes, a private-sector mover and shaker in Detroit politics, to prove that his wife, Paula, who disappeared under sinister circumstances shortly more than six years ago, is dead, so he can remarry without having to wait for the seven-year-declaration-of-death rule to kick in.
Walker's investigation is complicated by two facts: the police still consider Lawes the prime suspect, and the first-responding officer in that old case was killed in the line of duty shortly afterwards and his notebook has never been found. The question for Walker is, if Lawes is guilty, why would he put himself in jeopardy of arrest and prosecution by giving the forensics team a body to work on?
Amos Walker is hired by Francis X. Lawes, a private-sector mover and shaker in Detroit politics, to prove that his wife, Paula, who disappeared under sinister circumstances more than six years ago, is dead. Francis wants to remarry without having to wait for the seven-year declaration-of-death rule to kick in. Walker's investigation is complicated by two facts: the police still consider Lawes the prime suspect, and the first-responding officer in that old case was killed in the line of duty shortly afterwards and his notebook has never been found. The question for Walker is, if Lawes is guilty, why would he put himself in jeopardy of arrest and prosecution by giving the forensics team a body to work on?-- Provided by publisher.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
From the winner of four Shamus Awards (plus multiple awards in other genres), here's the next Amos Walker mystery, with Amos hired by Detroit bigwig Francis X. Lawes to prove that his wife, Paula, is dead. It's been more than six years since she vanished under mysterious circumstances, and Francis doesn't want to wait the full seven years required by law before remarrying. But Francis remains the main suspect in Paula's disappearance, and the officer first on the scene was subsequently killed in the line of duty, his notes on the case scattered to the four winds. So Amos faces a real dilemma.
Publishers Weekly Review
At the start of Edgar-finalist Estleman's stellar 28th Amos Walker mystery (after 2018's Black and White Ball), the Detroit PI is retained by Francis X. Lawes, a local government official in charge of insuring procurement integrity, to find out what happened to his PR consultant wife, Paula. After Paula went missing six years earlier, her car was found abandoned in a bad neighborhood. She's widely believed to have been murdered, but Lawes, who's looking to remarry, is hoping for conclusive evidence she's dead. Walker learns that the police inquiry into the disappearance was handled by an old friend of his, John Alderdyce, who recently retired from the force. Alderdyce always believed that Lawes was behind his wife's murder, but he was never able to prove it. The plot thickens when Walker learns that the first police officer to find Paula's vehicle was gunned down soon afterward. Chandler and Hammett fans will feel right at home on the mean streets of Estleman's Detroit. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Dec.)
Kirkus Book Review
Amos Walker looks under every rock in greater Detroit to locate a woman missing for six years.If he waited just one more year, Grosse Pointe contractor liaison Francis X. Lawes could have his wife, a PR consultant, declared dead and collect on her million-dollar insurance policy with no fuss. But X doesn't want to wait a year: He wants to marry Holly Pride, office manager at The Lawes Group, the moment he legally can. So Walker reluctantly agrees to look for Paula Lawes, whose car was found abandoned in a rough neighborhood a world away from her moneyed suburb, knowing full well that there's no bonus for finding her alive. He talks to her clients George Hoyle, an audiobook producer who admits to having been her lover, and Andrea Dawson, a spokesmodel with a secret of her own. He crosses words with Oakes Steadman, a former gang leader who parlayed his arrest into a position as a police consultant on youth violence; with Inspector John Alderdyce, the head of the original investigation who retired to work with the Reliance private-investigation agency, a rival of Walker's; and with Albert White, a commander from the Allen Park police station who retired into a more definitive haze of alcoholic apathy. He gets framed for murder and nearly murdered himself before he's rescued by an unlikely savior. And somehow, after the dust has cleared, he's come up with a solution as logical as it is unexpected.Estleman could crank these out in his sleep. Come for the snappy patter, stay for the surprises. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
TextSeries: Estleman, Loren D. Amos Walker novels ; 28.Publisher: New York : Forge, a Tom Doherty Associates Book, 2019Edition: First editionDescription: 269 pages ; 22 cmISBN: