Frank Pavlicek is the hero of this mystery, which is the first in the series, written in 2001 and now reissued in e-book form. Frank left the NYPD to settle down in Virginia, and sadly a divorce means he doesn't see much of his daughter, now a teenager. As a hobby Frank enjoys falconry. One day his red-tailed hawk is A WITNESS ABOVE to a dead body in the rough landscape.
Frank calls the local police, but he can't help checking the dead young man's wallet - and finds his own daughter's contact details. He knows it's wrong, but instinctively he hides the evidence until he can talk matters over with his daughter Nicole. But Nicole is not keen to talk to him, hanging out with an older crowd in a rough night spot. Frank, now working as a PI, fears that she may, through the dead boy, be linked to drugs or other crime. He asks a friend who is his falconry adviser to help him reconcile matters.
I enjoyed the falconry aspect of this story and the woodsy setting in Virginia. The other aspect of the book involves bars, indoor settings and unpleasant people, so it feels much more hard-boiled and it could not be called a cosy crime story. Frank is well able to cope, with his NYPD background. But finding that his daughter has been jailed drives him to distraction and we don't know him well enough to understand if he really blames himself and his divorce for her situation or if he blames the company she was keeping while unsupervised. Not to mention the trouble he'll be in for concealing evidence. The pressure mounts and Frank finds himself in the thick of the danger.
Andy Straka has written several more books about his detective, so if you enjoy this one there is a treat in store. He has also written a young person's guide to falconry. He recreates the Appalachian setting vividly for his stories. A WITNESS ABOVE is for adult readers, especially those who are interested in birds and the sport of hunting rabbits with hawks. I'm delighted that many PI novels are now being re- released to find a new audience.
Thirteen years ago, Frank Pavlicek left the NYPD under less
than ideal circumstances. Now, the divorced father of a
teenage daughter, he works as a private investigator in
Charlottesville, Virginia, where he indulges his passion
for falconry – and tries to live outside the shadow
of his past.
Frank is hunting with his red-tailed hawk, Armistead, when
he finds it. A teenage boy's body – barely concealed
behind a pile of brush in a part of the forest Frank
recently visited with his daughter, Nicole. It's a truly
gruesome crime scene – one of the many things Frank
doesn't miss about working homicide in the big city.
But what Frank finds in the dead boy's wallet is even more
disturbing: Nicole's phone number, scribbled in ink on the
edge of a bill. He pockets the evidence and flees. Days
later, his daughter is in jail. His past is coming back to
haunt him. And his reputation – and life – are
on the line...
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