The Indian Sign: A Milan Jacovich Mystery (#11) (Milan Jacovich Mysteries)

Milan Jacovich's newest client doesn't trust his newest employee and with good reason. When toy magnate Armand Treusch hires the Cleveland PI to check up on his accountant, Milan quickly discovers that David Ream isn't who he purports to be. But Treusch turns out to be just as duplicitous as Ream and a lot less ethical. The security problem he's paying Milan to fix is a lot more serious than industrial espionage, with the potential to endanger millions of unsuspecting families. While Milan's working out the moral dilemma involved in squealing on his client, he's also working on another, more interesting case involving the murder of an elderly Native American and the kidnapping of the man's great-grandson. Cleveland's a long way from the reservation, but Milan manages to connect the kidnapping to a baby-stealing ring run by a local mobster and the lowlife lawyers on his payroll.

This is the 11th outing for Milan, an eminently likable guy who knows his Midwestern territory like a native and limns Cleveland's back alleys and hidden byways with a spare, telling style. The writing is crisp, the pacing steady, and the violence minimal. Les Roberts is a dependable craftsman with a good hand at characterization, and Milan's a solid guy with just enough brass to make him interesting. --Jane Adams