Reasoner's first novel is a page-turner from start to finish. A Fort Worth private eye is hired by her stepmother to find a missing daughter before her husband returns from a business trip. There are a lot of interesting characters here that Reasoner makes you really care about, and Fort Worth and its vicinity are brought to life effortlessly. Despite some of the violent subject matter, this must have been a good book for Fort Worth tourism, especially with its evocative descriptions of the Amon Carter museum. Reasoner's prose never reaches the level of Chandler or his better imitators, but it is brisk and literate and propels the story forward without a dull moment. The book's only weaknesses are a somewhat too simple plot with the clues being fairly obvious for a reader of mysteries and the expected private eye novel situational cliches--such as getting beat to a pulp. Not quite up to par with TRACTOR GIRL, Reasoner's take on a Gold Medal pulp novel of the Fifties, but definitely recommended. It makes me want to devour a few more of Reasoner's novels of the past thirty years. ( )