D is for deadbeat

When Alvin Limardo walks into P.I. Kinsey Millhone�s office, she smells bad news. He wants Kinsey to deliver $25,000. The recipient: A fifteen-year-old boy. It�s a simple matter. So simple that Kinsey wonders why he doesn�t deliver the money himself. She�s almost certain something is off. But with rent due, Kinsey accepts Limardo�s retainer against her better judgment�When Limardo�s check bounces, Kinsey discovers she�s been had big time. Alvin Limardo is really John Daggett�an ex-con with a drinking problem, two wives to boot, and a slew of people who would like to see him dead. Now Kinsey is out four hundred dollars and in hot pursuit of Daggett. When Daggett�s corpse shows up floating in the Santa Teresa surf, the cops rule the death an accident. Kinsey thinks it�s murder. But seeking justice for a man who everyone seemed to despise is going to be a lot tougher than she bargained for�and what awaits her at the end of the road is much more disturbing than she could�ve ever imagined�