FICTION

The Second Girl

by David Swinson
Mulholland: Little, Brown. Jun. 2016. 368p. ISBN 9780316264174. $26; ebk. ISBN 9780316264181. F
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Longtime addict Frank Marr was a decorated police detective in Washington, DC. Now two years after his retirement, he works sporadically as a private investigator to support his drug habit. Leslie, a defense attorney and Marr's occasional bedfellow, keeps him on retainer to investigate cases for her clients. But one day when Marr's stash of drugs runs low, he discovers a teenage girl in a closet while canvasing a local gang's safe house for illicit drugs. Upon delivering the abducted girl to Leslie, Marr is hired by a family from the suburbs of Virginia to investigate the disappearance of another girl—who has a connection to the first girl.
VERDICT Swinson (A Detailed Man) delivers an excellent addition to the noir genre as he unveils layer after layer of his gritty protagonist. Readers of Dennis Lehane and Richard Price as well as fans of The Wire will appreciate the bleak description of inner-city Washington, DC.
Reviewed by Russell Michalak, Goldey-Beacom Coll. Lib., Wilmington, DE , Apr 15, 2016
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