Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta

Series: #1 in the Lincoln Perry Series
Genre: Mystery
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 291
Challenges: A-Z Reading #38 (K Author), TBR 2008 #10

When Investigator Wayne Weston is found dead in his home, and his wife and little girl are missing, his father hires private investigators Lincoln Perry and his partner Joe Pritchard. He wants two things, to first prove that Wayne didn’t commit suicide and second to find his granddaughter and daughter-in-law.

What starts out as a fairly run of the mill investigation soon builds into something much more complex. Lincoln and Joe are a pair of ex cops who are now private investigators. We learn early on that although Joe retired from the police department, Lincoln was forced out. The reason for that is one of the pieces of background that is revealed along the way as this mystery gets more and more intriguing. I liked that Lincoln and Joe were a good team and had some funny moments without it being all witty banter all the time. I liked how the characters and their backgrounds were developed throughout the novel rather than beginning with a quick history. It started out slowly and I wasn’t sure about it, at first. It had its flaws (for example a diary by a 5 year old??), but despite that lapse of believability it was still an entertaining enough read.

I first heard about this book from Joy, and although it’s taken me a while to get around to reading it, I’m glad I did and plan to read more of this series.