What do you think?
Rate this book
Lew Fonesca #1
Vengeance
The painful past resurfaces for investigator Lew Fonesca when he agrees to check into the disappearance of the wife of Carl Sebastian, a client of one of the attorney's Lew works for, and becomes involved in the case of a missing runaway teenager. Reprint.
278 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
24 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
Stuart M. Kaminsky
161 books215 followersStuart M. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award.
Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.
His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.
Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.
His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.
Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
October 27, 2011
Koko the Clown doesn’t appear in this opening salvo in a mystery series from Stuart M. Kaminsky, a short series following a “process server” named Lew Fonesca that was scribed a decade before Kaminsky died. My favorite series by Kaminsky is his light-hearted one featuring Toby Peters – ‘30s and ‘40s era detective to the stars. His Russian detective is interesting, but hasn’t captured my interest like the Abe Lieberman stories based on a hard-boiled Chicago cop. The Fonesca series, if Vengeance is any indication, allows Kaminsky to mix the grit of the Lieberman series without the procedural details. Fonesca isn’t a detective per se; he’s a “process server.” A former state attorney from Illinois, Fonesca sees a need to purge his nightmare reality of losing his beloved wife in an unsolved “hit and run” accident by solving problems for other people.
As a protagonist, Fonesca is fascinating because he makes mistakes and he doesn’t carry a gun (at least, in this story). His involvement is more about emotion than procedure, personal preference than professionalism. In this mystery, he is hired to locate a missing wife by a presumably wealthy client but spends the bulk of his time working on a case regarding a runaway teen. Some of his mistakes are related to literally underestimating his suspect-opponents, but at least one is due to making an assumption about someone he is protecting. No, I’m not talking about the classic victim who turns out to be the architect of the situation or the classic backstab by the client. This is subtle, interesting, and, for me, unexpected twist where the motivation was right but the suspected perpetrator was wrong. I also like the fact that Fonesca is unable to perform the white knight role with regard to every aspect of both cases. In one, he appears to be potentially successful and in another, he appears to be something of a failure. I like that sophisticated mix. It rings true.
Unlike many mystery protagonists, Lew Fonesca is an unhappy man. Though the books are set in a sunny locale (Sarasota, Florida), he walks about with a gray cloud like the average Chicago winter day over his head. Though he tries to throw in the occasional “smart mouth” comment, no one ever seems to understand his attempts at humor. Though he is in therapy, he still seems to want to punish himself. Though he solves mysteries, he doesn’t always bring the perpetrators into the justice system. He wants justice and closure, not legal machinations (in spite of or because of his legal background?).
His supporting cast includes a country-music loving alcoholic widow, his therapist, the auto-didactic owner of the local Dairy Queen, a former client who provides potential firepower on occasion, and the obligatory police detective who likes him but doesn’t necessarily trust him. The latter could be in any detective series, but the rest are interesting and add dimensionality to the story (and presumably, stories). Together, they are able to stumble through the case (not in the sense of a comedic stumbling as in a Johnny English or Get Smart outcome, but in the sense of never being entirely sure-footed and often being a little off-balance).
Vengeance isn’t afraid to deal with spouse abuse, child molestation, substance abuse, or any portion of the dark side of modern society. Instead, the emphasis seems to be on coping with such dark shadows. In the past, I’ve been far more likely to pony up to buy a Toby Peters mystery than any of the others from Kaminsky, but I won’t hesitate to finish this series and will continue to lament the fact that Kaminsky isn’t around to give us any more.
As a protagonist, Fonesca is fascinating because he makes mistakes and he doesn’t carry a gun (at least, in this story). His involvement is more about emotion than procedure, personal preference than professionalism. In this mystery, he is hired to locate a missing wife by a presumably wealthy client but spends the bulk of his time working on a case regarding a runaway teen. Some of his mistakes are related to literally underestimating his suspect-opponents, but at least one is due to making an assumption about someone he is protecting. No, I’m not talking about the classic victim who turns out to be the architect of the situation or the classic backstab by the client. This is subtle, interesting, and, for me, unexpected twist where the motivation was right but the suspected perpetrator was wrong. I also like the fact that Fonesca is unable to perform the white knight role with regard to every aspect of both cases. In one, he appears to be potentially successful and in another, he appears to be something of a failure. I like that sophisticated mix. It rings true.
Unlike many mystery protagonists, Lew Fonesca is an unhappy man. Though the books are set in a sunny locale (Sarasota, Florida), he walks about with a gray cloud like the average Chicago winter day over his head. Though he tries to throw in the occasional “smart mouth” comment, no one ever seems to understand his attempts at humor. Though he is in therapy, he still seems to want to punish himself. Though he solves mysteries, he doesn’t always bring the perpetrators into the justice system. He wants justice and closure, not legal machinations (in spite of or because of his legal background?).
His supporting cast includes a country-music loving alcoholic widow, his therapist, the auto-didactic owner of the local Dairy Queen, a former client who provides potential firepower on occasion, and the obligatory police detective who likes him but doesn’t necessarily trust him. The latter could be in any detective series, but the rest are interesting and add dimensionality to the story (and presumably, stories). Together, they are able to stumble through the case (not in the sense of a comedic stumbling as in a Johnny English or Get Smart outcome, but in the sense of never being entirely sure-footed and often being a little off-balance).
Vengeance isn’t afraid to deal with spouse abuse, child molestation, substance abuse, or any portion of the dark side of modern society. Instead, the emphasis seems to be on coping with such dark shadows. In the past, I’ve been far more likely to pony up to buy a Toby Peters mystery than any of the others from Kaminsky, but I won’t hesitate to finish this series and will continue to lament the fact that Kaminsky isn’t around to give us any more.
October 4, 2020
Well, I never thought I'd read a mystery with a process server as protagonist, yet here I am. Vengeance, by the prolific Stuart Kaminsky, has competence written all over it. Competent writing, competent plot, good dialogue, and a nice wrap-up. It's apparently the first in a series based on the adventures of ex-Cook County states attorney researcher and current Sarasota process server Lew Fonesca.
Fonesca's a pretty interesting character. He left the Chicago area after the death of his wife, drove southeast until his car expired, and restarted his life in the unique (for this genre) profession of process serving. He lives simply in his combination office/apartment, mostly eats at the nearby DQ, has a couple of interesting acquaintances who qualify as friends with skills, and makes just enough to get by on. He's visited at the beginning by an abused woman whose 14 year old daughter, Adele, has run away, possibly to be with the woman's abusive and sexually predatory ex-con husband. She wants Lew to find her, and although he's not really a private detective he takes the case because he needs cash. As with many novels in the genre, there's a 2nd story line. Fonesca is contacted by a rich guy to find his wife, Melanie, who has disappeared without a trace. Except for one recurring character, the twin disappearances don't have anything in common.
Lew begins his investigations using the meager tools available to him, makes a little progress on both, but soon finds himself in trouble with both law enforcement and law breakers on Adele's case. With the help of his 'friends' he escapes a couple close calls but others aren't as lucky. Adele's mother is killed and others in the string of people who may have been involved in her disappearance suffer the same fate. His other search turns into a real head-scratcher. Conflicting information from Melanie's husband as well as from every other person Fonesca interviews during his hunt for the woman leads to a lot of thrashing around until his 'computer guy' gets a fix on her using credit card information. She unexpectedly shows up at his office, tells him she'll let him 'find' her in a few days when she gives him a signal, and disappears yet again. In the end, both searches are closed, one on a positive note and the other on a sad one. Along the way we're treated to several characters that will hopefully be fleshed out further as the series continues, especially the woman who Fonesca takes out on a couple dates as she helps him in his investigation.
So, in sum, it's a decent read with good, albeit mostly somewhat boring, characters. I felt a few of the situations Fonesca found himself in pretty unrealistic, but the plots were good and the writing fine with a good conclusion, so ultimately worthwhile. Not compelling enough for a series IMO, but I may try the followup just to see where the characters go from here.
Fonesca's a pretty interesting character. He left the Chicago area after the death of his wife, drove southeast until his car expired, and restarted his life in the unique (for this genre) profession of process serving. He lives simply in his combination office/apartment, mostly eats at the nearby DQ, has a couple of interesting acquaintances who qualify as friends with skills, and makes just enough to get by on. He's visited at the beginning by an abused woman whose 14 year old daughter, Adele, has run away, possibly to be with the woman's abusive and sexually predatory ex-con husband. She wants Lew to find her, and although he's not really a private detective he takes the case because he needs cash. As with many novels in the genre, there's a 2nd story line. Fonesca is contacted by a rich guy to find his wife, Melanie, who has disappeared without a trace. Except for one recurring character, the twin disappearances don't have anything in common.
Lew begins his investigations using the meager tools available to him, makes a little progress on both, but soon finds himself in trouble with both law enforcement and law breakers on Adele's case. With the help of his 'friends' he escapes a couple close calls but others aren't as lucky. Adele's mother is killed and others in the string of people who may have been involved in her disappearance suffer the same fate. His other search turns into a real head-scratcher. Conflicting information from Melanie's husband as well as from every other person Fonesca interviews during his hunt for the woman leads to a lot of thrashing around until his 'computer guy' gets a fix on her using credit card information. She unexpectedly shows up at his office, tells him she'll let him 'find' her in a few days when she gives him a signal, and disappears yet again. In the end, both searches are closed, one on a positive note and the other on a sad one. Along the way we're treated to several characters that will hopefully be fleshed out further as the series continues, especially the woman who Fonesca takes out on a couple dates as she helps him in his investigation.
So, in sum, it's a decent read with good, albeit mostly somewhat boring, characters. I felt a few of the situations Fonesca found himself in pretty unrealistic, but the plots were good and the writing fine with a good conclusion, so ultimately worthwhile. Not compelling enough for a series IMO, but I may try the followup just to see where the characters go from here.
October 13, 2025
I really enjoyed this and am so disappointed that I can’t get more in the series as audiobooks. But great characters and a great story.
August 28, 2017
After reading a couple of disappointing series detective stories, this one was a pleasant surprise. I'm only the 225th person to rate this book, a stunningly low number for an Edgar winner. I read the first two books from this author's Toby Peters series, a fun but rather mediocre look at a detective who mingles with and investigates crimes towards 1939-40 era Hollywood stars. This fell into a recent theory that I've developed that throwback detective stories will never be as good as the noir they are compared with (such as Hammett and Chandler) because those books were actually contemporary.
In this instance, we have a contemporary story of a grieving widower who moves from Chicago to Sarasota. The Floridian in me loved the description of the setting which is why, to be honest, I read it in the first place. This started out with some cliches, but turned out to be a fine story with interesting characters and well-timed twists and turns. Given how leery I've become of going past book 1 of new series lately, I had pretty much decided one-and-done with this 6-book series after the first two chapters. Now, however, I think I might keep an open mind and check out the next book at some point.
In this instance, we have a contemporary story of a grieving widower who moves from Chicago to Sarasota. The Floridian in me loved the description of the setting which is why, to be honest, I read it in the first place. This started out with some cliches, but turned out to be a fine story with interesting characters and well-timed twists and turns. Given how leery I've become of going past book 1 of new series lately, I had pretty much decided one-and-done with this 6-book series after the first two chapters. Now, however, I think I might keep an open mind and check out the next book at some point.
June 26, 2020
Stuart Kaminsky was a master of the contemporary gun show story. He taught at Northwestern and when he retired to Florida, he took a faculty spot at FSU. I have always enjoyed his leads: Lee Fonseca, process server in Sarasota; Porifory Rostinkov, Moscow chief inspector; And Lieberman, Chicago homicide. The Toby Peters, Hollywood agent, doesn't float the boat for me.
If you crave noir dialogue, wry humor, complex characters and excellent plots - Kaminsky is for you.
If you crave noir dialogue, wry humor, complex characters and excellent plots - Kaminsky is for you.
October 7, 2020
This is first in a great series. Masterfully written with memorable characters this series touches the reader because of the universal themes-- loneliness , search for meaning, friendship, and courage to start over. I really like this author and this series. It might not seem that anyone is heroic or extraordinary until you realize how heroic and extraordinary everyday people are. Lew Fonesca moved into my heart in this book. He is welcome there.
March 12, 2018
Second time I have read this book. Excellent characters and I live the main protagonist Lewis Fronesca.
August 18, 2018
Best of the first four in the series. Seriously good writing, as always from Kaminsky.
November 4, 2021
...i guess i just love everything about kaminsky's 4 detectives in his 4 series. it seems he treats everyone w/ respect...all his oddball friends...has so much humanity despite being hard boiled guy in toby peter mysteries or one legged rostnikov in the russian series or tired jewish father/husband lieberman in chicago...and of course lew fonesca... and then his only 2 books in the ROCKFORD FILES series (loved the rockford files tv show) ...then he died...so no more books. sigh. i truly grieved.
January 1, 2025
Good 'ole classic mysteries 🫶
There's just something about Lew Fonesca's personality that makes you root for the guy. The characters in this story are great for their parts, and the story itself is casually compelling.
The story suffers from either rushed editing or a complete lack of, meaning that some of the typos take away from the story, and some of the writing comes across a little repetitive, using the same phrases back-to-back.
All that to say I did enjoy this book, and I will be reading Retribution to continue this story 👍
There's just something about Lew Fonesca's personality that makes you root for the guy. The characters in this story are great for their parts, and the story itself is casually compelling.
The story suffers from either rushed editing or a complete lack of, meaning that some of the typos take away from the story, and some of the writing comes across a little repetitive, using the same phrases back-to-back.
All that to say I did enjoy this book, and I will be reading Retribution to continue this story 👍
November 17, 2017
I didn't think I'd like it at first, but as I got into it, it was a really a good story. It was different and a little hard to follow in some spots, but all in all, it was good.
November 13, 2018
Clever. Good mystery/thriller.
August 11, 2020
Great book, wonderful characters. Lee has his work cut out for him, if he’s going to solve this one.
May 11, 2021
This was a good book.
December 3, 2021
The reviewer of this book falls in the same trap at the characters: It's "Fonesca"not "Fonseca."
March 10, 2025
Really fun read. I liked the twist at the end. Wonderful characters.
March 28, 2025
A new series! Hoping to find more to read
September 12, 2025
Primeiro de uma série que estou a estrear de um autor que gosto bastante.
Esta série é contemporânea e o detective é a habitual alma torturada. Um esforço sólido.
Esta série é contemporânea e o detective é a habitual alma torturada. Um esforço sólido.
May 7, 2011
This is the first Lew Fonesca mystery.It nicely introduces the collection of slightly strange collection of friends that make up Lew's world.One interesting tidbit is Flo Zink's introduction. The one paragraph backstory that is given for her is a perfect synopsis for Midnight Pass, which is a later Lew Fonesca story.It seems Mr. Kaminsky decided it must be too good of a story to leave as a backstory so he made it a full novel for another character.
The two cases that Lew works on seem to be totally separate, but end up having a common thread. While it seems that the focus of the book is almost completely on the missing girl story, both cases are wrapped up nicely by the end of the book.
The two cases that Lew works on seem to be totally separate, but end up having a common thread. While it seems that the focus of the book is almost completely on the missing girl story, both cases are wrapped up nicely by the end of the book.
October 18, 2011
I listened to the audio read by Joe Barrett. This is the first of the Lew Fonesca series. Lew is a depressed widowed Italian American; short, skinny and balding. Working as a process server in Sarasota Florida, he takes missing person cases on the side to support his meager lifestyle. Along with his cast of misfit associates, they try to locate 2 missing women. The book has a real dead pan humor, though I'm not sure how much of that was due to the narrator. I think the reader had a good appreciation for the absurdity of some of the characters and their situation and was able to communicate that to the listener. I really enjoyed this book.
August 16, 2016
Just great characters, local color, plot twists with fine dialogue, that's all. Lew Fonseca is a cerebral detective that asks questions (warning, including many about himself) and doesn't carry a gun, but he does have a grizzled old friend for that task. Starting off with two missing persons cases, this one soon makes a violent turn, or two, or three, but as a counterpoint (like so many good detecting novels) we get those wonder descriptions of food with plenty of small diner and Dairy Queen meals here. Blizzards, yum! This was a good one. My only very minor complaint was as this was set around 1999 the prices he was paying for things seemed on the low side.
June 9, 2011
I originally started in the middle of this series and liked the characters so much, I went back and started at the beginning. In the first book, we're introduced to Lew Fonesca and his small, but growing, circle of friends and acquaintances in Sarasota. Lew is looking for a missing wife and a missing daughter (no relation). The unforeseen twist at the end may me say WOW out loud in the car! The only bad news about these books is that the author died in 2009. Luckily, he's written four other extensive series of books o keep me busy.
September 3, 2012
Vengeance, by Stuart Kaminsky, is the first Lew Fonesca Mystery. Kaminsky has created another very interesting and tormented lead character surrounded by many other strange and intriguing supporting characters. Lew, a process server who is good at finding people, is hired by a woman to find her teenage daughter. Fonesca finds her (Adele) and rescues her from an abusive father and life of prostitution.
September 22, 2009
An interesting mystery. Lew Fonesca is a widowed process server who is good at finding people. He has two cases here, one to find the wife of a rich man and one to find the daughter of a poor woman whose husband has the daughter. Intersting characters, some I loved and some I hated, made it an enjoyable book.
February 13, 2013
Lew Fonesca flees Chicago when his wife is killed by a hit and run driver. He starts a new life in Florida, where he works as a process server and sinks into depression. When a distraught mother asks for his help finding her 14 year old runaway daughter, Lew finds that the case leads him to a dark and disturbing side of the Sunshine State.
July 23, 2012
Was a slow start for this Sarisota based series about "Process Server" Lew Fonesca. I like him because he knows he is good at finding people and for better or worse he does. He also has very interesting, loyal friends that I look forward to getting to know better in the further installments of the series.
April 14, 2013
I did not find Lew Fonseca believable. He isn't funny although he thinks he is. He comes up with solutions out of his head with no basis whatsoever. I would like to know how he knew Dwight was dead and how he knew the kid was the killer, how he got a social worker to go along with his schemes and she liked him. All too impossible for me to buy. Sorry!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2020
This book was fine. It was slightly boring and I had trouble getting invested in the story line. But it may just not be my thing. I didn’t really care about how it ended or what would happen to the characters. Is that bad? I felt 0 emotional connection to the characters and the book had no lasting effect on me. Again, it was fine.
October 2, 2012
Almost gave it 5 stars. The author has a very similar style to JA Jance.
Lew is a process server, but kind of a private investigator, too. He's trying to find women for 2 different cases. I like the way he casually goes about his work, but taking it very seriously, too.
Lew is a process server, but kind of a private investigator, too. He's trying to find women for 2 different cases. I like the way he casually goes about his work, but taking it very seriously, too.
June 13, 2025
This book is set in Sarasota and due to that, it has an immediate appeal to me. I can readily picture many of the scenes and "landmarks" described in the book. Kaminsky has an interesting mystery and created a main character who has a dry sense of humor (even through his depression).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews