Swann dives in: a Henry Swann novel

Depressed and at loose ends, New Yorker Henry Swann (a self-identified skip tracer) gets his mojo back when he takes a case involving a missing adult daughter. He doesn't particularly like his high-powered client, but he agrees to determine the whereabouts of the college-age Marcy, who seems to have disappeared with her perpetual-graduate-student boyfriend, Sean. As Henry pokes around the academic haunts of Syracuse and Harvard, he learns more about the elusive couple-most important, that they are active in the rare book auction business. The intricacies and shadiness of the trade enabled a major crime, Henry decides, and he pursues determinedly. Meanwhile, threats to his well-being suggest the trail is very warm. VERDICT Antihero PI Swann's sophomore case (after Swann's Last Song) delivers the goods in this well-paced literary mystery. Salzberg's soft-boiled touch makes this clever bibliophile case a fun read, particularly with its abundant literary references. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Depressed and at loose ends, New Yorker Henry Swann (a self-identified skip tracer) gets his mojo back when he takes a case involving a missing adult daughter. He doesn't particularly like his high-powered client, but he agrees to determine the whereabouts of the college-age Marcy, who seems to have disappeared with her perpetual-graduate-student boyfriend, Sean. As Henry pokes around the academic haunts of Syracuse and Harvard, he learns more about the elusive couple—most important, that they are active in the rare book auction business. The intricacies and shadiness of the trade enabled a major crime, Henry decides, and he pursues determinedly. Meanwhile, threats to his well-being suggest the trail is very warm. VERDICT Antihero PI Swann's sophomore case (after Swann's Last Song) delivers the goods in this well-paced literary mystery. Salzberg's soft-boiled touch makes this clever bibliophile case a fun read, particularly with its abundant literary references.