"Lullaby Town"

"Lullaby Town" is the third book, I believe, in Robert Crais' Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, Private Detective series.  Cole is hired by Peter Alan Nelsen, one of Hollywood's latest and greatest directors who has decided (after twelve years) that he wants to find his ex-wife so he can play father to his now 12-year-old son.  Cole questions his motives but Nelsen makes a case that seems to ring true for Cole and he sets out on what turns out not to be just an every day find a missing person case.  Peter's ex-wife, Karen, seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth and the usual methods of tracking her aren't working.  However, Cole gets a lucky break when questioning her last known landlady and ends up in a small town in Connecticut where Karen has changed her name and is now managing the town's bank.  Unfortunately, she's inadvertently gotten herself mixed up in the mafia and before Cole can tell Nelsen where his son is, he decides to try to get her out of this entanglement.  However, Nelsen has hired another private detective to follow Cole and he's good and isn't spotted by Cole until he's already revealed to Nelsen where his ex-wife and son are living.

When Nelson and his Hollywood bodyguards arrive, he thinks he can fix everything just because of who he is.  When that proves wrong and lives are threatened, it's Cole and Pike to the rescue with the help of a retired New York copy buddy turned author.  There's plenty of excitement and Cole and Pike have their hands full when dealing with the east coast mafia -- will they be able to successfully extricate Karen and her son from a bad situation or will it prove fatal for them?

Remind me not to start one of Crais' books late in the day because I have a tendency not to be able to put them down until I've finished the whole book which meant I was up until 3 a.m. finishing this one!  pazt