Stuart M. Kaminsky left behind a substantial body of work of more than 50 novels when he passed away in 2009. His mysteries include such well known characters as Toby Peters, Inspector Rostnikov, Abe Lieberman, and Lew Fonesca, with Fonesca being the last of his literary creations. 

As it happened, I began my introduction to Kaminsky by reading one of the Fonesca novels since I was immediately entranced by the setup. Since then, I have remained with Fonesca. Maybe one of these days I will graduate to one of Kaminsky's other characters. After all, if you have enjoyed one Kaminsky novel, you will enjoy the next, and the good news is that there are plenty of next novels. Kaminsky was both prolific and wonderfully dependable.

I love the fact that the Fonesca stories take place in Sarasota, Florida, one of my favorite cities. A novel always resonates more when a familiar street, place, or beach is mentioned, perhaps even one that I have visited. I also enjoy the lead character, for Lew Fonesca is the very antithesis of the typical, testosterone-laced gumshoe. He is a small, slight, balding nebbish of a man in his forties who is resolutely devoted to the memory of his late wife. Another point in his favor is that he loves classic movies.

This is the fourth Fonesca mystery, and it won't be the last one that I will read. Well, there are only six of them, so I have just two left. Like many other literary characters, Lew Fonesca is like comfort food. He just reads so easily. I can sit down after a long day and know that I am going to be entertained. In addition, I find the small group of side characters around Fonesca to be quirky and interesting. 

Lew still prefers to be alone and he still lives on the cheap in a run down office building which used to be part of a motel, so no one complains that he sleeps where he works and showers at the YMCA next door. He still hasn't gotten over the loss of his wife from a hit and run accident back in Chicago years before. His shrink adopted him more than the other way around, for Ann Horowitz is an eighty year old retired therapist from New York who still practices part time to keep mentally alert. Lew visits her weekly and she charges him $10 a session plus coffee. All done to help him find new interest in living. She also wants a joke from a man who has forgotten how to laugh, for Lew is a sad sack sort of guy as well as being an emotional basket case.

The money, what little he needs, comes in spurts from a law firm which occasionally hires him as a process server since his specialty is "finding people." This is a rather odd situation since Lew himself would rather not be found. His preference would be to go off somewhere, preferably to one of the local beaches, and leave the world behind him.

Of course, this isn't going to happen or there wouldn't be a story. Out of the blue and on the same day, Lew is hired by two different women, so a guy whose needs are simple now finds himself flush with ready cash. While there is no connection between the two cases, they share the commonality of not appearing to be cases at all, at least ones with the potential for solution. Both women have come to Lew to have him find people after they have lost all hope that this will be accomplished by others. In essence, Lew has become their last, best hope, and the clear implication is that these two cases will turn out to be lost causes.  

The first case involves an elderly resident at the Seaside Assisted Living retirement home who is convinced that she was a witness to a murder the night before, although no one will believe her. There is not one ounce of corroboration, and everyone is quick to believe that she has imagined the whole thing. Feeling insulted, she hires Lew to find out who the murdered  person was so that her fellow residents and nurses won't view her as being some daffy old biddy. 

The second case has a prominent local stage actress hiring Lew to find the missing hit and run driver who had killed her fourteen year old son. While the local cops promise her that they are actively on the case, she feels that its priority in the police files is sinking by the moment. There isn't much to go on: one Hispanic male witness with a vague description of a sedan speeding away after running the young man down in the middle of the street. Since then, the cops have covered all of the bases, and they are less than thrilled to find Lew dogging their tails. 

Thankfully, Lew has the ready and capable assistance of Ames McKinney, for there will be a surprising amount of danger in what first appears to be two walk through cases without any buried bones that someone may want to keep hidden. And we get the pleasure of finding out how Lew and Ames first met. 272 pages, 2005, a Forge Book by Tom Doherty Associates.