Tonight I Said Goodbye (2004)

by Michael Koryta

Series: Lincoln Perry (1)

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399	16	63,316	(3.69)	41
This is the remarkable debut mystery from the award-winning author of the 2003 St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America Prize for Best First Private Eye Novel. Investigator Wayne Weston is found dead of an apparent suicide in his home in an upscale Cleveland suburb, and his wife and six-year-old daughter are missing. Weston's father insists that private investigators Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard take the case to exonerate his son and find his granddaughter and daughter-in-law. As they begin to work, they discover there is much more to the situation than has been described in the prevalent media reports. There are rumors of gambling debts and extortion, and a group of Russians with ties to organized crime who don't appreciate being investigated--a point they make clear with baseball bats. With some assistance from newspaper reporter Amy Ambrose, Perry and Pritchard believe they are making swift progress. But then they are warned off the investigation by a millionaire real estate tycoon and the FBI. Just when they feel they are closing in on a possible source of answers, another murder forces them to change direction in the case.… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 15 (next | show all)

I saw Michael Koryta at the Decatur Book Festival earlier this year, he made a good impression and I decided to give one of his novels a try. Best place to start is always this beginning. This is his first book and also the first book int he Lincoln Perry series. I liked it. He did a talk with Michael Connelly so I was expecting the book to be a bit like the Harry Bosch novels and it was to a point. I think these were a bit grittier and more "Dragnet" style than Harry Bosch is. I thought the mystery was really good and it had a couple of twists in it that I didn't expect it.

Scott Brick did a decent job narrating the book. He's not my favorite narrator but he's not bad.

If you're fan of procedural crime novels with a bit of a dark side, I recommend this series. I will definitely be reading more Koryta in the future. (

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melrailey | Apr 7, 2020 |

Very boring. Cliches abound, ie, no cliche is left unturned: Damsel in distress - check, pair of dynamic detectives - check, Tycoon as the bad guy - check. Prose very dull. It was my first Michael Koryta book. I hope it won't be the last... (

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antao | Dec 10, 2016 |

I didn't like it as much as I had expected to - given its reviews and its genre. There was too much weak dialogue and the main character going here and there and then there and here...just to have yet another dialogue.

I really didn't like how the "romantic" component was done - it wasn't really a romantic component, but Perry still "sized" up a woman, and acted out on an attraction to her when it was completely unrealistic that she would be interested (only logical reason she would show interest in him would be because she was a bad guy), or that he would be interested in her since he, supposedly, is emotionally attached to another female character. Or he's following his genitalia... in either case it didn't fit his character, or the story line. (

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crazybatcow | Aug 7, 2015 |

A crime fiction series based in Cleveland? Here it is...the first book in a series based on two former Cleveland cops, relatively new in the PI business. One young, one old. It was a fast well written story. I liked the setting and the characters. The age-related gaffe: the way Kortya depicts the mother-daughter relationship--at 21 he knows girls--the relationship between mother and daughter is intense but pretty shallow. All in all, a professional first novel effort. I'll go on to read others in the series. (

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buffalogr | Feb 25, 2015 |

It seems that this is Koryta's first novel,written when he was 20. Enjoyable as it was,this is clearly an apprentice work and not up to the high standard of his other books.
It introduces his series character,the Private Eye,Lincoln Perry in a case which includes the Russian Mafia and corrupt individuals of all sorts.
It will be interesting to see how this character develops as the series progresses. (

)

devenish | Oct 9, 2014 |

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Lincoln Perry (1)

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Edgar Award (Nominee – First Novel – 2005)

Great Lakes Book Award (Winner – Mystery/Intrigue – 2005)

St Martins' Press / PWA (Best First PI Novel Contest – 2003)

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Canonical title

Tonight I Said Goodbye

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Elizabeth 'Betsy' Weston

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Important places

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

Ohio, USA

South Carolina, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

To Bob Hammel. For his teaching, guidance, encouragement, and friendship I am deeply indebted.

First words

The last time John Weston saw his son alive,it was a frigid afternoon in the first week of March, and John's granddaughter was building a snowman as the two men stood in the driveway and talked.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Child, Lee

Straka, Andy

Krueger, William Kent

Bruen, Ken

Hamilton, Steve

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

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▾Book descriptions

This is the remarkable debut mystery from the award-winning author of the 2003 St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America Prize for Best First Private Eye Novel. Investigator Wayne Weston is found dead of an apparent suicide in his home in an upscale Cleveland suburb, and his wife and six-year-old daughter are missing. Weston's father insists that private investigators Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard take the case to exonerate his son and find his granddaughter and daughter-in-law. As they begin to work, they discover there is much more to the situation than has been described in the prevalent media reports. There are rumors of gambling debts and extortion, and a group of Russians with ties to organized crime who don't appreciate being investigated--a point they make clear with baseball bats. With some assistance from newspaper reporter Amy Ambrose, Perry and Pritchard believe they are making swift progress. But then they are warned off the investigation by a millionaire real estate tycoon and the FBI. Just when they feel they are closing in on a possible source of answers, another murder forces them to change direction in the case.

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