In 1958, veteran reporter Jack Corrigan attends his almost-niece’s twenty-first birthday party.  Katy has requested that he attend; she says she has something to discuss with him.  Before they can have their discussion, Corrigan has had a few too many.  He’s not clear on the sequence of events, but these events culminate with him waking up on a deserted country road.  He’s been beaten, and he’s still drunk.  As he makes a stumbling attempt to orient himself, he sees what looks like a wrecked Buick, with blood on the cracked windshield, being buried by a tractor.  Unfortunately for him, the driver of the tractor sees him and gives chase before finally leaving him for dead.  When he awakens in the hospital the next day, he relates the story to his young apprentice, Conn O’Connor.  O’Connor idolizes Corrigan and believes him; but no trace can be found.

In what seems to be an unrelated tragedy, Katy’s family’s yacht is caught in a storm, and all aboard disappear.  When the authorities investigate, they find that someone has broken into the family home, killed a nursemaid, and kidnapped Max, Katy’s infant son.  Corrigan spends the rest of his life trying to find out what happened to both that buried car and to Max, but he’s never able to discover anything.

In 1978, Irene Kelly is a new reporter working for Conn O’Connor, who is now managing editor of the paper.  Sent to cover the groundbreaking ceremony for a shopping center, Irene is confronted with a grisly find: the Buick.  Investigation quickly discovers human remains in the trunk.  Doing her homework, Irene discovers a young man who claims to be the long-missing Max.  O’Connor wants to see the case solved, in memory of his mentor, Corrigan, but suddenly, the trail of clues ends.  The case will reside in the cold case file for more than twenty years before Irene resurrects it, determined to solve it, for all those involved.

This is a truly excellent book.  The story actually begins in the 1930s, with an account of how O’Connor began his career at age eight, as a paperboy, by “fibbing” about his age.  He even manages to give Corrigan information for stories.  The friendship between the two is never saccharine; it seems quite realistic and unforced.  Since the reader meets the characters so early, each event in their lives is invested with true emotion, whether good or bad.  The fact that the mysteries are ‘cold’ cases in no way diminishes their impact, since the reader knows the characters so well.  Newcomers to this series will have no problems jumping in here, since the story begins so far in the past.  This was my first book by this author, but it certainly won’t be the last.  Very highly recommended.