originally published as Tools of the Trade, a Chip Hale Handyman Mystery
When the remains of Chip Hale’s daughter are uprooted by a summer storm nine years after she went missing, he vows to find her killer. Cold case detectives from The Biggest Little City in the World have investigated her disappearance without success. But when another young woman goes missing, it becomes too much for the blue-collar handyman to handle by himself.
Hard as a titanium pop-rivet, except when it comes to raising his two tech-savvy, wise-cracking teenage granddaughters, Chip relies on the girls’ computer skills and his coworkers' military and law enforcement backgrounds when looking for the dirtbag who murdered his daughter. Meanwhile the clock is ticking as his vigilante team risks everything by taking the law into their own hands. But will their old-school sleuthing tools of the trade be enough?
Thoroughly enjoyed this mostly family oriented, written from a devoted grandpa's point of view novel. The characters stood out, the main man in the novel was so likeable, and knew how to read people, while helping to raise two fun-loving grand daughters who are as enamored of him as he is of them. It's a great murder mystery with a nice coat of decency, humor, sadness, and hope.
An intricately woven murder mystery with no clue of a resolution until the final pages. The characters are developed to a level where the reader feels as if they are present on the pages. Very highly recommended.