Private investigator Jack Coffey's memories become a mix of pride for some of his actions and regrets for others in The Devil's Daughter, screenwriter Gordon Greisman's highly entertaining fiction debut. Now in his 90s, with his eyesight and hearing waning, Jack says that "the past has a way of collapsing in on itself."
The Devil's Daughter quickly moves back to the pivotal year 1957, when Jack was involved in a career-changing case. Jack's friend Monsignor Richie Costello delivers a message from the archbishop of New York, for whom he is executive secretary: help wealthy church benefactor Louis Garrett find his 16-year-old daughter, Lucy. The powerful Garrett offers Jack a $10,000 retainer, and another $10 grand as a bonus, to bring Lucy home safely. Garrett paints his only child as "lovely," but admits "Lucy's a real handful," who may have been corrupted by her older, womanizing boyfriend, Rex Halsey, whom Garrett paid to leave the city.
Jack's investigation reveals a Lucy who is even more a wild child, and who may be involved with criminals and a series of murders. That's not far from who her father is: Garrett's façade of a well-respected businessman covers his Mafia activities. Jack wonders if Garrett wants Lucy found to protect her--or because she knows too much about her father's real businesses. Greisman adds the prerequisite dirty cops, vicious thugs, and Garrett's personal henchmen.
Greisman skillfully emulates vintage private-eye novels, delving into noir territory while also offering a hopeful future for Jack. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer