Runner

In the fourth volume of Clark’s “Chicago Mystery” series (after What You Don’t See) homicide detective–turned–private investigator Cass Raines is hired by recovering addict Leesa Evans to find her daughter. Fifteen-year-old Ramona Titus ran away from a foster home during a bitterly cold Chicago winter and is now unsheltered, on her own, and most likely at the mercy of human traffickers. In an unusual occurrence of police–PI cooperation, the police detective in charge of the case and his retired cop acquaintance both welcome Cass as another set of eyes. Regardless, the search for Ramona soon turns as cold as the weather. Then the body of a young woman is found burning in a trash can under an expressway on-ramp. Could it be Ramona? Narrator Shari Peele gives excellent vocal characterizations to the many characters who make this thriller exciting and realistic.