Then She Vanished

In bestseller Parker’s outstanding fourth Roland Ford novel (after 2019’s The Last Good Guy), the San Diego, Calif., PI takes on the case of state legislator Dalton Strait, whose wife, Natalie, has disappeared in the midst of a challenging reelection campaign. Natalie has run away before—she has a history of mental illness—but this time her abandoned car is found with the word HELP scrawled in lipstick on the back of the front seat. Meanwhile, the San Diego area is rocked by increasingly deadly terrorist attacks. A group called the Chaos Committee claims responsibility with a disturbing anarchist manifesto that takes aim at California’s elected officials at multiple level, inciting widespread violence. Ford’s investigation takes him into the heart of Strait’s prominent family, including his sister, an entrepreneur in the California marijuana business (legalized, but still threatened by Mexican cartels), as well as the larger social issues of the Chaos Committee and the community of wounded war veterans. The plot is as well crafted as it is thought provoking. Parker writes with confidence, insight, and real humanity. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media. (Aug.)