WESTERFIELD'S CHAIN

A brisk style and fine descriptions help offset a less-than-scintillating plot in Clark's debut mystery. While investigating a traffic altercation involving an off-duty police officer, Nick Acropolis, a former homicide cop now working as a low-level PI in Chicago, learns about first one missing person, then another. Eugene Westerfield is "on vacation" indefinitely, and Jimmy Madison, a student who works in one of Westerfield's drugstores, disappears just after Nick gets his statement about the traffic case. Nick follows a suspicious car with out-of-town plates and meets Becky Westerfield, daughter of Eugene, who's come home to hunt for her dad. Although Becky is convinced her father is a saint, Nick gathers more and more evidence that Eugene has been committing an impressive amount of welfare fraud. As the off-the-books owner of a medical center, Eugene has been hiring doctors who are no longer employable in the reputable world. These doctors prescribe hundreds of unnecessary medications, and the patients are sent to Westerfield's drugstores to get the prescriptions filled. Nick's backstory could have provided more nuances if it had been revealed sooner. A few minor characters come through strongly—such as a bike repair guy named Purcell and a fascinating mute homeless man—but there are so many others that it's hard to keep them straight, let alone appreciate them. Still, whatever the book's flaws, it's a great read, one that ought to appeal in particular to Robert B. Parker fans. (Nov. 11)

FYI:The author, a cab driver, also writes a column for the Chicago Reader.