The Second Girl by David Swinson

Frank Marr found teenager Amanda Meyer quite by accident. He was searching the house of known drug dealers, to replenish his own supply, when he happened on Amanda, naked except for panties, handcuffed and chained in the bathroom.

Not knowing what to do since his search was illegal and for nefarious purposes, he decides to take Amanda to his sometimes boss, attorney Leslie Costello, and let her contact the police. Of course that’s putting her in a bad position, but Frank’s drug supply is getting low and he needs to get back to the house to find and confiscate the stash for his personal use.

Unfortunately, his plan somewhat backfires when Leslie, his also sometimes girlfriend, calls him. The parents of Amanda’s neighbor, hearing of his success in finding Amanda, want to hire him to find their missing teenage daughter, Melanie. Frank doesn’t do missing persons, but feeling somewhat obligated, he agrees to meet with them in Leslie’s office and ultimately takes their case with the proviso that if no new information is unearthed in a week, he’ll stop the search.

As readers of The Second Girl by David Swinson will soon find out, Frank took early retirement from the police force, ostensibly for being stressed out. However, we know better (it’s surprising that his former police contacts don’t know better). He is addicted to drugs but apparently knows how to control it so he’s fooling everyone, including his sometimes sleeping partner, Leslie. As a private investigator he doesn’t need to follow the same rules the police are required to follow. As a result, he gets results that the police may find hard to obtain.

Frank’s investigation takes him to the drug lords and prostitution rings of the greater Washington, D.C. area. There’s plenty of fighting, breaking and entering and surveillance. Frank is a decent character, as are his police cronies. The story moves along nicely.

My only criticism is the amount of drug references. We know Frank’s an addict but I don’t necessarily need to know on a daily basis what drugs he’s taking, what alcohol he’s washing it down with, what combination of drugs offsets a high high with a not so low low. And please, to fool everyone he knows? I don’t think so.

So my suggestions to former police detective Swinson, is that you’ve made your point regarding Frank’s addiction. Now minimize how much we have to read about it and carry on with what could be a good series. You’re a much better writer than many other ex-detectives who have decided to write mysteries.