I have read several books by Stuart Kaminsky. His Toby Peters mysteries are among my favorites. He also writes a series about a police detective in Moscow. Now Mr. Kaminsky has a new hero that he shares with us. We now get to meet and know Lew Fonesca in the mystery called Vengeance.

Lew Fonesca lives in Sarasota, Florida. He once lived in Chicago, working for the State Attorney's office and had a loving wife. The wife got killed in a car wreck and Lew drifted away. He packs up and drives away from Chicago. Lew ends up in Sarasota because that's where his car broke down. He picks up work as a process server and part time investigator in the Sarasota area.

Lew is sent a case from the owner of the Dairy Queen across from his office. It seems that Adele Tree has run away from Brisbane, Kansas and has come to Sarasota to be with her father, Dwight. It seems that ol' Dwight is a bad dude who once went to prison for molesting his daughter from another marriage. Adele's mother, Beryl, hires Lew to find her so that she can go back home to Kansas.

Lew also has another case. Carl Sebastian is a mildly successful businessman. He is an older man with a young wife. It seems that the wife, Melanie, has disappeared. Carl hires Lew to find Melanie and try to convince her to come home.

Lew starts asking around about Adele and finds out that she has been hooking on one of the strips near Sarasota. He meets up with her social services councilor to find out what happened to Adele. Sally Parovsky is a woman who cares deeply about her clients. She will help Lew find Adele, get her off the street and back with her mother if at all possible.

As Lew works both cases, he gets help from Ames McKinney. Lew had been hired by Ames at an earlier time to find a partner who stole the profits from a business. Lew found the wayward partner and was a witness to an old fashioned duel in which Ames was the victor. Lew saved Ames from going to prison and in the bargain got an informal partner.

Once Lew gets involved in both cases, things seem to turn nasty. Lew gets beat up and someone gets murdered in his office. He now has to find out who the killer is along with getting Adele off the street and finding the wayward Melanie. Not an easy task for a guy who doesn't seem to be on top of his game.

Vengeance is a superb mystery. It brings out a new and refreshing detective in Lew Fonesca. I hope that Stuart Kaminisky will put this new character on the front burner and bring us other tales of Lew Fonesca and the seamier side of Sarasota.

Copyright © 2000 Bruce E. Von Stiers