by Les Roberts

This is the first in a series of thirteen novels and is set in Cleveland. Here's a synopsis: The stately homes of Pepper Pike house some of Cleveland's biggest movers and shakers. And one of them--an advertising exec named Richard Amber--is missing. Private eye Milan Jacovich follows a trail that leads from posh private gun clubs to sleek corporate offices--and into the terror of murder.

Milan Jacovich is like any Slovak, Polish or Slovenian guy you know from this area, and you genuinely like him and care about his travails. In this book you are introduced to Milan Jacovich, his ex-wife, his children and his best friend. Although the series is almost 20 years old, the characters don't age in real time. In the most recent book his oldest child started college although he was in his teens when the series started. However, the references do change with the times. So a restaurant named in the first book may be out of business, but Milan has new hangouts that can be found in Cleveland now.

Alex and I think these books are fun to read because they are set in Cleveland so we get the references to the people and places. They are also well written and the plots are easy to follow. This book is a good start, but you may want to read some of the newer ones, like The Indian Sign, The Dutch, or The Irish Sports Pages.