Lost Daughter

A private investigator who doesn't carry a gun and whose idea of nirvana is playing his guitar while in a drug-induced stupor? If Chicagoan Dan Kruger is a plausible protagonist, then this debut novel is indeed refreshing. Cormany introduces the 30ish, pill-popping, hard-drinking ex-cop and former rock musician in what appears to be a missing persons case. Kruger is hired by wealthy suburbanite Terrance Dawson to find his runaway daughter, Asia. He quickly locates her, but she vanishes again after her boyfriend and her mother are murdered. While pursuing Asia, Kruger gets involved in a string of killings and uncovers a blackmail scheme. Yet until he can deduce the motive for the crimes, Asia remains lost. While the characters, for the most part, are both humorous and pathetic, they are stereotypes. What enhances the mystery is the author's knowledge of the Windy City and his daringly different hero. Nonetheless, watching an alcoholic drug-abuser indulge his habits will not be every reader's kind of fun. (Oct.)