Richard Aleas’ Little Girl Lost

A long lost love of private investigator, John Blake, turns up dead on the roof of a seedy strip club in New York. As he investigates the circumstances surrounding her death, Blake uncovers a life that he never imagined possible for his high school sweetheart.

John Blake works with Leo, a retired police officer, in a small two-man operation. I liked the give and take between the two detectives with one mentoring the other. Blake, about the same age as myself, is a bit of a hot-head and at times needed to keep his anger in check while Leo was more analytical and experienced. The duo worked well and with a second book already released, I’m interested in checking back in with them.

I had an idea who the killer would end up being somewhat early on but I had felt like it was a little too predictable. Even through it turned out I was right, the way in which Aleas wraps everything up seemed plausible.

Another solid entry from the folks over at Hardcase Crime. I have some serious admiration for this publisher. If you’re not already reading these books, you’re doing yourself a disservice.