Review of The Boyfriend by Thomas Perry

The Boyfriend by Thomas Perry can best be described as a crime thriller/suspense novel. The story begins with a high-priced call girl, Catherine Hamilton, being murdered in her home and her parents are intent on finding whodunnit. They enlist the help of retired LAPD detective Jack Till.  Till has been moonlighting as a gumshoe of pretty mundane cases. In between those cases, he visits his daughter Holly, who has down syndrome. She is the same age as the victim and this encourages him to take the case.

Before long Jack Till is able to find clues that link Catherine Hamilton to a few other call girls who look almost exactly like her. This connection is lost on the police but thankfully we have Till to come to their aid because he is one smart gumshoe. Actually, Till and Holly are the only characters I care about. The rest are pretty cardboardish and flat.

Contrary to a couple gripes I have about this novel, The Boyfriend is pretty interesting and I think Perry's fans will really enjoy it. There are no unnecessary details to trudge through and no characters that aren't introduced to serve a purpose.  This being my introduction to Perry has not been a bad one. Although there were hokey lines like "he is unusually good-looking" and if I read one more "strawberry blond" than I was going to really have a problem. But I did like the way the story came together and I look forward to seeing this character in future publications. I feel there's many more places the author can take this character. ***