The paperback opens with Blake remembering Miranda Sugarman, the sweet neighborhood girl who took his virginity years ago. She left Blake behind after high school to attend a university with a goal to become a doctor. Blake learns of her death from an exploitive newspaper headline reading, “Stripper Murdered.” Without a client, he decided to investigate her death and gain a better understanding of his former friend’s life and death.
One of my favorite elements of the set-up is Blake’s boss in the PI firm, a much older ex-cop named Leo, who plucked Blake out of college and mentored him in the investigation racket. He’s the perfect, world-weary antithesis to Blake’s youthful idealism and quest for justice. He’s also well-connected within the NYPD and a great asset to Blake’s side.
The trail to the truth takes Blake into the behind-the-scenes world of seedy NYC strip clubs. It’s a fascinating look behind the curtain as Blake encounters a conspiracy of dope, missing college girls and much more. Blake is a fallible hero who takes more than a few beatings, but is always smart, capable and upbeat. His narration moves the plot forward at a good pace and is never boring.
Ardai is a much better writer than I was expecting, and Little Girl Lost was a solid, workmanlike private eye mystery with plenty of twists leading to the satisfying solution. It’s an easy recommendation, and I look forward to reading the sequel, Songs of Innocence, from 2011.
I agree, it's a terrific novel.
ReplyDeleteThis is a smashing private eye novel and Ardai is the real deal. The second installment is even better IMO. A real shame he didn't continue with the character to make it a series, or that he didn't publish more novels in the genre. He really delivers with these two.
ReplyDeleteThis one popped up at Dollar Tree a few months back
ReplyDeleteI read this a few years ago and was equally stunned Ardai was such a good writer. Frankly, given he's the co-owner/editor of Hard Case Crime, I thought this would be an unworthy vanity project. Instead, it was a gritty book. The second book is much, much darker but also, in my opinion, much better. When is the podcast coming back? I'm dying over here.
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