When he was eighteen, Miranda Sugarman was John Blake's first love and first lover. Ten years later, John is a Private investigator and Miranda Sugarman is a dead stripper. When Blake last saw Miranda she going off to college in New Mexico to become an eye doctor. What happened in the ten years to take her from college girl to a stripper in a tenth rate gentlemen's club, the Sin Factory? Against the advice of his boss - "You won't like what you find" - Leo Hauser, Blake is determined to find out what happened to Miranda. Leo is right and the story concludes with a turning point that puts a blackness on John's soul and changes his life.

Little Girl Lost is a hardboiled detective story and enjoyable read. The characters are nicely developed. At twenty-eight John blake still looks like the preppy college kid and literature major he was before Leo drew him into the life of a licensed private investigator. Early in the story, John meets Rachel, a stripper who knew Miranda. She becomes a major character and through her we learn about life in the strip clubs. This provides the kid of detail that helps flesh out a story (sorry I had to say that). I also enjoyed the manner in which Blake approached his research into Miranda's past. He starts with Google. Also, Real literature majors will note that the poet William Blake wrote a poem with the title A Little Girl Lost which is reminiscent of John and Miranda as high school lovers.

Richard Aleas is the pen name of Charles Ardai, co-founder of Hard Case Crime. This is his first novel though he has published short stories. Ardai was interviewed by Clute and Edwards on a Behind the Black Mask podcast in which he discusses Little Girl Lost as well as Hard case Crime. It is an excellent interview and can be listened to without spoiling the story. The interview brings up an interesting aspect of "P.I. justice." this is the situation where the P.I. encounters a crime so horrendous that justice can only be served outside the law. But the P.I. must agonize over the choice otherwise the P.I. might be considered nothing but a sadist (as Raymond Chandler described Mickey Spillane).

The discussion of Hard Case Crime press was equally interesting to me since I find myself reading (and owning) many of their titles.