June 17, 2019
Two cases preoccupy Henry Swann in Salzberg’s entertaining if leisurely fourth outing for the New York City PI (after 2014’s Swann’s Lake of Despair). First, Swann’s oddball partner, a lawyer named Goldblatt, needs his aid tracking down Madame Sofia, a psychic who disappeared after swindling Goldblatt’s former wife out of a load of cash. Swann, who specializes in skip tracing, takes the job in large part because it will give him “a unique opportunity to find out more about Goldblatt, My Man of Mystery.” Meanwhile, old friend Paul Rudder, a highly respected private attorney Swann regards as the yin to Goldblatt’s yang, hires him to locate a witness who will help Nicky Diamond, a sociopathic hit man who’s about to go on trial for murder. According to Rudder, Diamond is proud of his profession but claims he’s innocent in this particular case. The search for the witness, who happens to be Diamond’s girlfriend, takes Swann to Alabama. Salzberg depends on humor and wit to carry a plot that’s long on dialogue and short on action. Fans of lighter PI novels will have fun.