Happy Doll, the former cop, is trying to eke out a living as a private detective. The business hasn’t been great, so he’s anxious to meet his new client. When the young woman, Mary, walks in the door, she brings Happy’s past along. She’s the daughter of a woman, Ines, whom Happy had loved deeply but has since lost track of. Mary wants to hire Happy to find Ines. All Mary knows is that Ines was homeless and using again in Washington state, but she seems to have disappeared. Something is off about Mary and her rich husband, who pays the bills, but Happy doesn’t figure things out until it’s too late for some of the players in this noir mystery.||Jonathan Ames has created a great cast of characters — well-rounded and fascinating — and put them into dire circumstances. The writing is simply superb, rife with fresh metaphors, wicked humor, and snappy dialogue. Readers will buy into every bit of this fiction, even when some of it flies clearly over the top. Ames has the ability to weave such a watertight story that it’s impossible to poke holes anywhere. There is likely another book on the horizon, as this one ends rather abruptly.