Lew Fonesca lived in Chicago until his wife’s tragic death. Then he quit his job with the State’s Attorney’s office in Cook County and found himself in Sarasota, Florida, when his car broke down in a Dairy Queen parking lot. He found an office that shares the same parking lot as the Dairy Queen, moved into its back room and began to do some process serving. While Lew does not claim to be a detective, he has developed a reputation for finding people.

Two story arcs run through Vengeance. Fonesca finds himself searching for the wife of a wealthy developer. She is rumored to have vanished for no reason but may have been involved with her psychiatrist. The other thread involves a runaway from Kansas whose mother has tracked her to Sarasota. The mother stops at the Dairy Queen and the owner recommends she contact Lew. The threads are each distinct and do not involve looking for the two people in the same places or the same way.

Vengeance is the first book in Edgar award winner Stuart M. Kaminsky’s new series. Kaminsky does a wonderful job of gradually revealing information about Lew Fonesca. He imparts just enough information at places where it makes sense. The background never feels forced in the story. Kaminsky has an excellent ability to describe a situation with the fewest words. The reader is able to see and feel a situation from his succinct sentences.

Kaminsky has created a rich character. Lew Fonesca hasn’t decided if he is suicidal or not, which makes his reactions doubly intriguing when he is threatened. But he is still interested in life. He has an arrangement to see a local psychiatrist and has made friends with a variety of people in Sarasota.

Vengeance fulfills my major requirements for a good book: while I read my interest in the story never wavered and I definitely look forward to the next book in the series.

--Sharon Medley