THE DUTCH: A Milan Jacovich Mystery

NY, NY.: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Minotaur, 2001. First edition, July 2001, so stated with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, in protective mylar cover. Milan Jacovich, a blue-collar Slovenian private eye with a master’s degree in Cleveland, Ohio, is featured in the twelth entry in this series. "A distraught father asks Milan Jacovich, Cleveland's dogged Slovenian-American private eye, to discover why his daughter Ellen jumped off of a bridge to her death, in Roberts's 12th workmanlike whodunit (after 2000's The Indian Sign). Although it appears a simple, lucrative job, Milan uncovers inconsistencies (e.g., Ellen was in her pajamas and barefoot, yet her feet were clean). Two friends for whom she worked at Wheetek Inc., a Web-site design company, provide no clues to Ellen's suicide. Milan's son's computer-expert girlfriend guides him to "fat girl" chat rooms that the obese Ellen visited, but the leads gleaned from these all prove dead ends. The plot picks up speed after two hoodlums warn Milan off the case and he persuades two homicide cops that Ellen was murdered. Perhaps the book's best moment is the surprise ending, which hinges on a sinister pornographic "fetish" Web site. Milan, loyal and brave, possesses a finely tuned moral sense..." -- Publishers weekly. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Book.