The Perpetual Summer: A Chuck Restic Mystery

In Phillips’s entertaining second Chuck Restic mystery (after 2017’s The Silent Second), Carl Valenti, who doesn’t trust private investigators, hires the L.A. HR exec to look for his missing 16-year-old granddaughter, Jeannette. Valenti has caused Chuck trouble in the past, but, postdivorce, Chuck could use the extra cash. As he starts to dig, with Valenti’s right-hand man, stone-faced Hector Hermosillo, in tow, what at first seems the case of a rebellious teen acting out starts to look more serious. Chuck must also contend with Jeannette’s parents, who are separated and have their own agendas involving Valenti’s vast wealth. Chuck’s sharp, wry insights into the absurdity of the corporate world reveal his existential need for more meaning in his life, and many scenes are genuinely funny, such as the one in which Chuck and Hector pose as building inspectors, riffing off each other with ease and breaking the ice between them. Phillips’s clever blend of the absurd and the serious will have readers looking forward to Chuck’s next adventure. (Jan.)