Cat's Paw, Inc

Zack Smith, a private investigator based in Mackie, Ore., is hired by Lily and Jason Finney to find their missing teenage daughter, Jessica. Suspecting she's run away to Portland, Smith heads for the city. Scarcely en route, he sees a beautiful young woman walking along the side of the road and offers her a ride. Mysterious, withdrawn and extremely nervous, she identifies herself as Allison Smith. `` `As good a name as any,' '' the real Smith tells her. Soon the car radio announces news of a murder committed in Mackie the previous night. What connection, if any, does his lovely young rider have with the murdered man, and can the besotted Zack help her even as he begins his search for Jessica? In this fluently written but slightly overplotted first novel, Thrasher leads her charming gumshoe a brisk chase down Portland's meanest streets. Anxious to protect Allison, determined to locate Jessica, Smith is one busy detective whose hard work eventually reaps him some surprising dividends. (Aug.)