The Middle Sister by Jesse Miles

 

When Jack Salvo is hired by a rich woman in Los Angeles to find her middle child, he doesn't think the case will be that difficult.  The girl, Lillie, is mad because her mother had just cut her allowance and downgraded her car after yet another car wreck.  Jack figures she is probably staying with a boyfriend or one of her friends and it won't take long to discover where she is.  

Lillie runs with a fast crowd.  Most are trust fund babies, rich and spoiled.  But there are also hangers on who want the money the others have and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it.  Then there are the drug dealers who make their living off the high living crowd.  But when Jack finds Lillie, she is dead, an overdose say the police.

Jack isn't sure it's that pat of an answer.  As he continues to investigate, he runs into a former exercise queen who is down on her luck and trying to befriend Lillie.  The owner of Lillie's favorite nightclub used to run organized crime and many believe he still does.  Then there are various boyfriends and envious friends.  Who is the culprit?

Salvo is an interesting character.  He is tough enough but not so tough that he becomes unbelievable.  He'd rather talk and figure things out than get involved in fistfights or gun fights.  The character of the former exercise queen looms large in the novel and will prove interesting to readers.  She is reminiscent of the Jane Fonda type of exercise leader, hoping for a tv show that lasts and an empire of streaming and DVDs for at home users.  The plot twists and turns enough to maintain interest and it ends with a twist.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.