Unfortunately, Frank has no time to muse because two things happen to shake up what he admits has become a computer job and a soft lifestyle. The first is that his red-tailed hawk finds a body instead of the expected rabbit. Frank finds evidence on the body linking it to his teenaged daughter. The second is that his daughter is jailed for drug possession.

Frank relocates to his daughter’s hometown in Virginia and uses his ex-partner’s home as a base. Fending off hostile law enforcement officials with one hand and currying favor with the Commonwealth attorney, Frank has his hands full even as he wonders if the past is playing a part.

What is interesting about A Witness Above is how closely it comes to capturing the Robert Parker Spenser formula. The P.I. is a literary man with a hands-off love interest and a semi-mysterious sidekick. The writing is smart and interesting, the dialogue and settings are good. But the plot goes awry in enough places where you think, as a reader, that you could have done better. A better and bigger idea was needed here, especially in the last fourth of the book. The prologue lets us know the writer is capable of a better effort and I hope to see it in his next book.

--Diane Gotfryd