Hidden Graves

Book excerpt: “An investigator with a seductive one-two punch—a delectably smart mouth and a delightfully nimble brain.” —William Kent Krueger “Chicago private investigator Dek Elstrom is having a hard time making ends meet, what with the recent collapse of his marriage, the scandal that wrecked his career, and the lack of an actual private investigator’s license. When a woman hires Dek to confirm the whereabouts of three men, Dek’s not exactly in a position to turn down the work, despite his client’s deeply suspicious behavior (Why, for example, does she show up for their meeting wearing an obvious disguise?). When Dek discovers that one of the men is dead and the other two seem to have gone missing, not to mention the fact that the dead man may have taken on a new identity a couple of decades ago, he realizes he’s stumbled onto the kind of case that could resurrect his career―if he can beat a (trumped-up) murder charge, that is. The writing here is splendid, echoing genre veteran Loren D. Estleman, and Dek Elstrom is the kind of guy we genuinely like spending time with.” —Booklist