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Review by Tom Corcoran
Nothing is as it seems. Everything is more complex than it looks. Unchecked evil smothers justice. Children are wiser than we imagine them to be. And those premises are just for starters. In Robert Crais's seventh Elvis Cole mystery, "Indigo Slam," a powerful spiral of revelations takes even the chilled-out California private detective by surprise. The fact that Cole's most recent client is a 15-year-old girl does nothing to diminish the complexity and peril of the case.
Elvis resorts to warm-hearted patronizing when young Teresa "Teri" Haines tows her snotty 12-year-old brother Charles and sweet nine-year-old sister Winona into his West Los Angeles office. Teri announces that her decision to hire Cole comes from her library research of old newspaper articles that praised him. She located him through his Yellow Pages ad and is ready to pay cash for his time. Clark Haines, the kids' father, has been missing 11 days. Haines travels often, and their mother died five years earlier in a traffic accident, so the children are used to being on their own. But this extended disappearance has them worried. While Cole's immediate inclination is to report the Haines kids to Children's Services, he is impressed by Teri and agrees to consider the job.
Within two days Elvis travels to Seattle, determines that Clark Haines may be a drug addict, encounters Russian mobsters, a convicted counterfeiter, and agents of U.S. Customs, learns that Haines's previous name was Hewitt, and is arrested by a Federal Marshall. Elvis also determines that Haines/Hewitt probably was in the government's witness protection program. The people against whom he once testified are seeking revenge; the three children do not realize that they also are in danger.
"Indigo Slam" hits high gear. So much for a simple missing person case.
Robert Crais's first novel, 1988's 'The Monkey's Raincoat,' was nominated for both the Edgar and Shamus Awards, and won the Anthony and Macavity Awards. The expansion of his reader base has been amazing and deserved. Those new to the Elvis Cole series will be converts. Existing fans will welcome "Indigo Slam."
©1997, ProMotion, inc.