Marilyn's Mystery Reads

Book Author: Alison Gaylin

Drug user, extreme party-goer, stalker–there’s so much not to like about Dylan Welch.  When his multi-millionaire father asks private investigator Sunny Randall to find his missing son, she refuses, but when Dylan’s mother turns up at Sunny’s office, it becomes a different story.

Lydia Welch insists that Sunny must take the case, saying that “You’re the best out there.”  Sunny tries to remind her that her previous encounter with Dylan did not end well for him, but Lydia is insistent.  And when she writes a check for an amount greater than Sunny has ever received previously and tells the detective that she and her son share a special relationship, she convinces Sunny to investigate the disappearance.

Dylan is the head of the company that produces Gonzo, a best-selling energy drink.  At least he’s nominally the head of it, but in fact the brains behind the organization belong to his college friend, Sky Farley.  Sky, whom the Welches consider to be a “daughter,” tells Sunny that when Dylan has disappeared in the past, she’s always known where he was, but not this time.

Sunny searches Dylan’s office and discovers his cell phone in a desk drawer.  After a few futile tries, Sunny guesses his password.  The phone reveals more than two dozen messages from a blocked number, and every text says MURDERER.  Then Sky and Maurice Depree, head of the organization’s security, show Sunny a video that was taken earlier that day.  It’s of a woman who was in the company’s offices, and even though there’s no sound, it’s obvious that the woman is screaming and out of control.

Although Dylan’s behavior didn’t make him a lot of friends, the only person Sky and Maurice can think of who might have been responsible for the texts is Rhonda Lewis, the woman in the video.  Rhonda’s seventeen-year-old daughter died after drinking three cans of Gonzo mixed with alcohol.  Rhonda sued Dylan’s company and lost the suit, but she’s appealing that decision.  Obviously not content with waiting for legal recourse, she came to Dylan’s office to confront him.  Now Sunny is going to confront her.

Sunny is also dealing with a major issue in her private life.  Her former husband has moved to New Jersey and wants Sunny to move there also, at least for part of the year.  Her love for her ex has resurfaced, and she’s torn.  Does she really want to uproot herself from Boston, the only city she’s ever lived in?  In addition, Richie tells her he’s worried about her and would like it if she took on less demanding, less dangerous cases.  Can she do that?  Does she even want to?

After Robert B. Parker’s death, Ms. Gaylin was asked by his estate to continue the Sunny Randall series.  The author does an excellent job of bringing Parker’s protagonist to life.  Sunny is smart, determined, and a force to be reckoned with when she’s facing an opponent.  Readers will welcome her back.

Alison Gaylin is the author of numerous thrillers and the winner of an Edgar and a Shamus award.   You can read more about her at this website.

Check out the complete Marilyn’s Mystery Reads at her website.  In addition to book review posts, there are sections featuring Golden Oldies, Past Masters and Mistresses, and an About Marilyn column that features her opinions about everything to do with mystery novels.