In 1997, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro were private investigators hired to search for a missing four-year-old girl, Amanda McCready. The girl was found but it was far from a happy ending. Patrick and Angie, now married with a young daughter of their own, never mention the case since Patrick feels he had to return Amanda to her neglectful, addictive mother and Angie felt the child would have been better off with the “kidnappers” who loved her. Twelve years later, Amanda’s aunt contacts Patrick and asks for his help to once again find Amanda. Driven by guilt and the possibility of being able to do the right thing for the now 16-year–old Patrick agrees to look into the disappearance.

But with the very first questions barely out of his mouth, Patrick is assaulted and warned to stay away from Amanda’s friends and the life she disappeared from. It doesn’t take long for Patrick to learn that Amanda’s disappearance is just the beginning of a tangled mess; a close friend of Amanda’s is also missing, a young boy has been killed, and the Russian mob seems to want to find Amanda almost as much as Patrick.

Lehane is a terrific writer. His characters are fully realized — I would recognize Patrick and Angie if I ever met them at a party and I would really like them— and the mystery is engrossing. I found myself surprised at the end — that just about never happens. And, though I never read Gone, Baby, Gone which is the novel about the original kidnapping of Amanda, I never felt lost in this story. Lehane conveys enough details about that original case that Moonlight Mile flowed seamlessly from page one to the end. Highly recommended!  ~Patti