cover image Palos Verdes Blue: A Jack Liffey Mystery

Palos Verdes Blue: A Jack Liffey Mystery

John Shannon, . . Pegasus, $25 (320pp) ISBN 978-1-60598-037-9

Shannon explores the deep, sometimes deadly divide that separates haves and have-nots in his rewarding 11th mystery to feature 60-year-old Jack Liffey, who specializes in locating missing children (after 2008’s The Devils of Bakersfield ). Jack’s ex-wife, Kathy, asks him to find Blaine “Blue” Hostetler, her best friend’s missing teenage daughter. Smart and attractive, Blue was involved in such causes as preserving the habitat of the endangered butterfly, the Palos Verdes Blue, and aiding illegal immigrants. Jack’s investigation takes him from L.A.’s ultra-rich enclaves and the surfers’ paradise of Lunada Bay to muddy migrant camps and Tijuana. Once again, Jack’s daughter, Maeve, puts herself in danger to help her dad, with mixed results. Effectively told in part through letters written by a young Mexican immigrant and others written by a scared teenage surfer to his dad, this installment highlights Shannon’s ability to sharply render subtle shades of right and wrong. (May)