"DEATH'S LITTLE HELPERS" by Peter Spiegelman (A)

This second novel by Spiegelman is a great improvement over the first, and that is a high compliment indeed, since his first novel, "Black Maps," is itself a good read. This book is not quite the masterpiece as is his most recent novel, "Red Cat," however, when compared to many other books, "Death's Little Helpers" is a masterpiece in its own right. 

With only his second novel, Spiegelman amply evidences to us that he is hitting his stride, as it were. Pun intended, since his hero, John March, is an inveterate runner. This is one of those stories that makes settling down with it something you anticipate with pleasure all day long, like a fine meal for the mind. If only I had this much fun reading when I was in school. 

All of his novels give me great hope for the future. Spiegelman is growing as a writer along with his canon of books, for each new novel is a better read than the ones before it. Once, again, for this reason and also because valuable information about John March is gleaned from each book, I would humbly suggest, maybe recommend, that these books be read in their proper chronological order. It is not a necessity, since each novel stands on its own, but it will make the journey slightly more interesting.

Spiegelman, who has apparently retired from the financial world to write novels, seems to be cranking out a new John March PI mystery novel about every year or so. His next effort can't come out soon enough, as far as I am concerned.

In "Death's Little Helpers," Wall Street financial analyst, Gregory Danes, has disappeared. Once one of the most famous analysts during the go-go years of the internet dot.com boom, Danes' star has fallen dramatically and his reputation has suffered as a result. Where once he appeared on every business channel, now no one returns his calls. He has spent his recent years trying, with little success, to repair his tattered reputation, but now he has disappeared "on a sabbatical" after a recent blowup with the principals of his investment firm.

His ex-wife, Nina Sachs, a SoHo artist of considerable reputation, doesn't really care about him. In fact, she refers to him as a "lying bastard." She hasn't heard from him in two months, which is unusual, and Nina is a little concerned that Danes' alimony and support checks will stop. She also finds it very strange that her ex has not contacted their son, Billy, for his usual visitation privileges. She hires March on the sole condition that he not go to the police, because she has a strained relationship with her husband, who has a volatile temper. She fears that calling in the police will also bring in the press which will probably further damage his reputation at work. 

When John March starts to investigate this missing persons case, he quickly finds out that one of the reasons for their strained relationship is that Gregory had filed for custody of their son due to the fact that Nina has come out of the closet as a lesbian and is now living with Ines, the Latin American owner of one of the galleries that carries her works. 

March can understand why Danes and his wife don't get along, but he is troubled by the fact that Danes had few or no friends anywhere else. A strange mix: no friends and plenty of enemies. His firm wants to dump him, but they can't until a lawsuit for his prior stock recommendations is settled, since that would appear to be an admission of guilt.

Danes doesn't seem to have had a personal life, and no close friends of note. He has no family left except for a younger half-brother gone bad who lives in New Jersey and has been the subject of numerous enforcement actions for previous scams. He could be the cause of Danes' disappearance, but so could the principals of his firm or the many investors and mutual funds who had lost millions as a result of Danes' over exuberance in his stock recommendations.

Then there is that famous business channel market commentator with whom Danes seems to have had an affair. Now married to a powerful real estate developer, she and her husband would both have a lot to lose by her affair with Danes coming to light. The list of people who hate him is a long one, but maybe Danes just decided to chuck it all and go on the lam for some unknown reason.