The Frog King

Henry Garnish #3

by Frank McConnell

In the third Harry Garnish/Bridget O'Toole mystery, Harry goes reluctantly to Los Angeles to help locate a missing teenager, while Bridget works on the case at home. As Harry blunders through the L. A. scene, offending or taking offense at everyone he meets, until he joins forces with a gregarious motorcycle gang member who helps to show him the ropes, Bridget approaches the case through logic and reasoning. An unlikely pair, Harry and Bridget nevertheless get the job done.

297 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

About the author

Francis DeMay McConnell, known as Frank McConnell, (1942-1999) lived at Santa Barbara, California and was a professor of English at the University of California. He had been awarded his undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame and earned his doctorate at Yale. He had then taught at Cormell University and at Northwestern University. He was twice married, and had two children and a stepson.
He published many books on film and literary criticism, as well as the four detective novels described below, and numerous magazine articles. For years he was media correspondent for the lay Catholic journal, Commonweal. He served several times on the Pulitzer Prize fiction jury. He was known for his robustious wit, and was a highly ribald, entertaining and popular teacher.

Reviews

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Chicago & L.A. Main character is a PI who is asked by his boss--a former nun--to find a friend's kidnapped almost-stepdaughter. Then it turns out that it's the daughter's mom who appears to be in more danger. Sad, depressing, but Harry is pretty funny.