If the literary world were a horse race, Loren Estleman's name would be "Cult Favorite." He would be one of those horses who would always win, place or show; he would never throw a shoe, never stumble, and always put forth his best effort. He would never disappoint. He has created an incredible, enviable body of work, primarily in the mystery and western genres. Amos Walker is his finest, most enduring character, a rumpled knight who is always true to, and honest with, himself.

SINISTER HEIGHTS revisits familiar territory for Estleman and Walker, that being Detroit and its surrounding environs. The assignment begins simply and innocently enough, with Walker being retained by Rayellen Stutch, the young widow of Leland Stutch, one of Detroit's wealthiest and oldest industrialists. Mrs. Stutch retains Walker to find Stutch's illegitimate heirs for the purpose of bestowing upon them part of her enormous inheritance. It is an elementary, noble job that begins to go wrong almost from the point at which Walker leaves the Stutch driveway.

Walker discovers that the family he is looking for is a textbook example of dysfunctional: the battered wife is in hiding, the abusive husband is hunting her, and their young son is a pawn. Walker gets in the middle, as he will, but this act places him and someone he loves in terrible danger. When the young son is kidnapped after an act of terrible violence, Walker is forced into a showdown at the Stutch family factory, an aging mausoleum to another era that will not give up its secrets without payment of dear and bitter coin.

Estleman, as always, is magnificent, neatly but quietly delving into Walker's character while seamlessly peeling away layers of plot. Estleman has not forgotten that he is writing mysteries, and there are plenty of them within SINISTER HEIGHTS. Some you will guess, others only will be revealed by finishing the book. But you're going to do that anyway.

   --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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