Dr. Dowan Purcell had been missing for nine weeks when Kinsey got a call asking her to take on the case. A specialist in geriatric medicine, Purcell was a prominent member of the Santa Theresa medical community, and the police had done a thorough job. Purcell had no known enemies and seemed content with his life. At the time of his disappearance, he was running a nursing care facility where both the staff and the patients loved him. He adored his second wife, Crystal, and doted on their two-year-old son.
It wasnโt Crystal who called Kinsey. It was Purcellโs ex-wife, Fiona. Everything about their meeting made Kinsey uneasy. Fionaโs manner was high-handed and her expectations unrealistic. Kinseyโs instincts told her to refuse the job, yet she ended up saying, โIโll do what I can, but I make no promises.โ
It was a decision sheโd live to regret.
Pursuing the mysterious disappearance of Purcell, Kinsey crashes into a wall of speculation. It seems everyone has a theory. The cops think he went on a bender and is too ashamed to come home. Fiona is sure he ran off to get away from Crystal, and Crystal is just as sure heโs dead. The staff at the nursing home is convinced heโ s been kidnapped, and one of his daughters, having consulted a psychic, is certain that heโs trapped in a dark place, though she doesnโt know where. Kinsey is awash in explanations and sorely lacking in facts. Then pure chance leads her in another direction, and she soon finds herself in a dangerous shadow land, where duplicity and double-dealing are the reality and, with the truth glinting elusively out of reach, she must stake her life on a thin thread of intuition.
P Is for Peril: Kinsey Millhoneโs latest venture into the darker side of the human soul.