The Cleveland Creep: A Milan Jacovich Mystery

Michael Harvey fans will appreciate Roberts's 15th Milan Jacovich mystery, which offers a more engaging story line than its predecessor, King of the Holly Hop (2008). A new client, Savannah Dacey, asks the Cleveland PI to find her 28-year-old son, Earl, an unemployed loner who hasn't been heard from for about a week. Jacovich's search of Earl's room uncovers some home-made DVDs, which reveal that Earl has been going to malls with a video camera concealed in a bag and filming up women's skirts. Aided by a new probationary assistant, Kevin O'Bannion, Jacovich tries to track down some of Earl's victims as well as pornographers who may have bought his movies. A murder raises the stakes, and Jacovich encounters a promising love interest, an English teacher at a Catholic school whose students frequented one of the malls. Despite a relatively weak ending, solid prose and a consistent hard edge bode well for future installments. (June)