South of Hell-P.J. Parrish

South of Hell
P.J. Parrish
Pocket, Sep 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 1416525882

Private detective Louis Kincaid receives a phone call concerning a case he was involved in a decade ago. Louis found the car that belonged to Owen and Jean Brandt; she took the vehicle and left her spouse and their child never to return; he went to prison but has since been paroled. Ann Arbor police detective Jake Shockley, who loved Jean, tells Louis new evidence has surfaced and asks Kincaid to come to Michigan. Louis cannot resist and leaves immediately as the cops plan to reopen the cold case disappearance while fearing for Owen’s new girlfriend.

Owen and his girlfriend go back to his former house waiting for the life insurance check that his girlfriend expects soon. When Owen finds out his daughter Amy is in town he tries to get her back but fails as Joe, Louis’s girlfriend has legal custody of her. Amy is determined to find out what happened to her mother while her father is wondering what really happened to his wife. The child visits a hypnotist hoping the expert can help her retrieve her buried repressed memories. Wanted for attacking Louis, Owen heads back to the farmhouse at the same time Amy arrives there to see if she can prompt her memories. Louis, Joe, and Jake also come to the farmhouse for the inevitable High Noon confrontation.

The antagonist is a sociopath who uses violence to get what he demands, which leaves many people afraid of him and his abusive bullying tactics. Louis, already involved before his arrival, becomes almost obsessed with solving the case and protecting the innocent two females who he fears will not survive associating with him. Ann Arbor also contains a personal shocker to Louis as he meets his daughter and has no idea how to be a father to her. P.J. Parrish has written a fascinating thriller in which the case is too personal to Kincaid’s liking; but not to his appreciative fans.

Harriet Klausner