The Geranium Kiss — John Harvey

Scott Mitchell, the toughest private detective in England, is about to find that kidnapping and murder go hand in hand in this classic hardboiled mystery.

Even over the telephone, Scott Mitchell can tell the caller is more beautiful than any woman he's ever met. Her name is Stephanie Miller, and from the tremor in her voice, it sounds like a matter of life and death. Miss Miller works for Crosby Blake, one of the most powerful, and dangerous, men in London. Blake's niece, Cathy, is missing, and it will take a ruthless private detective to find her -- and Mitchell is as ruthless as they come.

On the night she disappeared, Cathy came home at 10:30 and went straight to bed. The next morning, her room was empty, as if she'd simply disappeared. Soon, the phone rang, and a muffled voice demanded £20,000 in small bills and utter discretion. If anyone muttered one word to the police, Cathy would be dead. That's when it becomes Mitchell's problem. To bring her back safely, he'll have to untangle a web of deadly lies that threaten to bind him tighter with every question he asks.

Written in the tradition of classic private-eye novels like Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep and Ross Macdonald's The Way Some People Die, The Geranium Kiss is as hardboiled as they come.

The Geranium Kiss is the 2nd book in the Scott Mitchell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.