
The latest adventure of private eye Elvis Cole and his partner/force of nature Joe Pike. It has been slightly over two years since the previous book; I hope this means Robert Crais is writing these books as the mood strikes him, and not under pressure from his publisher or agent to grind out schlock. This is schlock-free.
Elvis is hired by Traci Beller to find out what happened to her beloved father, who vanished ten years previous when she was 13. A previous effort by another detective turned up nothing except his last known whereabouts, the small (fictional) town of Rancha, out at the western end of the San Fernando Valley. (I assume that's what the book's title refers to; Google Maps doesn't show much out there.)
Money's no object, because Traci is a bona fide star in the world of Internet muffin-baking ("eight-point-two-million followers across her socials"), with potential to become a superstar. Her muffins are great, and she has a winning personality that translates to video well. But she's kinda obsessed with wanting to know what happened ten years ago. Elvis takes the case, but has to contend with Traci's posse (who don't care what happened to Dad, and want to stay on the gravy train) and Traci's mother, who (seemingly) would prefer Traci just Move On.
Elvis contends with more resistance out in Rancha, where his diligent investigation draws the attention of unsavory types who really don't want the truth about Traci's dad to be revealed. Things escalate to the point where Joe Pike is called to assist, but (unfortunately) too late to protect Elvis from some serious violence.
Bottom line: I can't think of any current writer who does the private-eye genre better than Robert Crais, and this is no exception.