THE SECOND GIRL

DAVID SWINSON

I just finished The Second Girl by David Swinson. I am depressed because the second installment of this outstanding and absorbing P.I. novel is not due until the summer of 2017. Think Pelecanos, David Simon’s The Wire, Homicide, and Life On the Street, illustrious and legendary police procedurals, whether on television or in book form.

Our hero is a drug-addicted former Washington, D.C., narcotics detective. The only thing he likes more than Valium, cocaine, and liquor is solving crimes that the cops cannot solve. He does not have to have probable cause to stop somebody, which means that he can do whatever he feels is necessary to find a resolution to the crime. Our P.I. is hired to find a missing girl. Is she a runaway or a kidnapping victim? Who took her and why? It would help if you bought this book on June 7. Then, block out a day or two to travel the dirty, dangerous, and unpredictable streets that surround our nation’s capital. I assure you that you will never feel the same about gangs, kids, and crime.