Westerfield's Chain - Hardcover

Clark, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031228960X ISBN 13: 9780312289607

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2002

Synopsis

It was another nothing case. That's the only kind private eye Nick Acropolis seemed to get lately. But this one leads to Westerfield's Pharmacy, which sits in the heart of Chicago's West Side ghetto, surrounded by ruins.

Nick was a real cop years ago, a homicide detective, and there's something about the drugstore that gets the old juices flowing. There's no customers for one thing. No pharmacist either, and nobody seems to know where the boss, Eugene Westerfield, has gone.

And then Becky Westerfield shows up. She's taken a sudden leave from medical school to look for her father, who didn't call on her 25th birthday. Becky knows something must be wrong. Eugene Westerfield would never forget.

Becky and Nick join forces, going from one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country to one of its wealthiest suburbs. They visit housing projects, the morgue, and a decrepit nursing home, hidden away between railroad lines.

Becky discovers a city she never knew existed, and Nick surveys some depressing old haunts. Together, they eventually find Eugene Westerfield. But along the way they stumble into an intricate scheme of fraud and murder. Becky discovers that her father isn't the man she'd thought he was.

With a plot reminiscent of Graham Greene's The Third Man and inspired by real events, Chicago native Jack Clark has crafted a winning first mystery.

About this title

About the Author

Jack Clark has worked as a newspaper and grocery delivery boy, a Christmas tree salesman, a journalist, a long distance furniture mover, and a cabdriver. He is also an award-winning writer whose column appears in The Chicago Reader. He has lived in Chicago all his life.

Reviews

A brisk style and fine descriptions help offset a less-than-scintillating plot in Clark's debut mystery. While investigating a traffic altercation involving an off-duty police officer, Nick Acropolis, a former homicide cop now working as a low-level PI in Chicago, learns about first one missing person, then another. Eugene Westerfield is "on vacation" indefinitely, and Jimmy Madison, a student who works in one of Westerfield's drugstores, disappears just after Nick gets his statement about the traffic case. Nick follows a suspicious car with out-of-town plates and meets Becky Westerfield, daughter of Eugene, who's come home to hunt for her dad. Although Becky is convinced her father is a saint, Nick gathers more and more evidence that Eugene has been committing an impressive amount of welfare fraud. As the off-the-books owner of a medical center, Eugene has been hiring doctors who are no longer employable in the reputable world. These doctors prescribe hundreds of unnecessary medications, and the patients are sent to Westerfield's drugstores to get the prescriptions filled. Nick's backstory could have provided more nuances if it had been revealed sooner. A few minor characters come through strongly-such as a bike repair guy named Purcell and a fascinating mute homeless man-but there are so many others that it's hard to keep them straight, let alone appreciate them. Still, whatever the book's flaws, it's a great read, one that ought to appeal in particular to Robert B. Parker fans.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

P.I. Nick Acropolis inadvertently picks up clues to a tangled missing-persons case while investigating an automobile accident involving a cop in a desolate area of Chicago. There, a drugstore (scene of a recent murder) and a nearby clinic, both owned by a prominent but missing man, apparently serve as centers for welfare fraud. An ex-cop himself, Nick knows how to manipulate the investigatory ropes, save his clients, and trip up the bad guys. Extensive background detailing (e.g., driving around Chicago), personal observation, and an understated tone lend credence to this steadily engaging first mystery. Readers who like Chicago-based series such as Sara Paretsky's might want to check this out.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 031228960X
• ISBN 13: 9780312289607
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304