Book ~ "A Tap on the Window" (2013) Linwood Barclay

From Goodreads ~ It’s been two months since private investigator Cal Weaver’s teenage son, Scott, died in a tragic accident. Ever since, he and his wife have drifted apart, fracturing a once normal life. Cal is mired in grief, a grief he can’t move past. And maybe his grief has clouded his judgment. Because driving home one night, he makes his first big mistake.

A girl drenched in rain taps on his car window and asks for a ride as he sits at a stoplight. Even though he knows a fortysomething man picking up a teenage hitchhiker is a fool, he lets her in. She’s the same age as Scott and maybe she can help Cal find the dealer who sold his son the drugs that killed him. After a brief stop at a roadside diner, Cal senses that something’s not right with the girl or the situation. But it’s too late. He’s already involved.

Now Cal is drawn into a nightmare of pain and suspicion. Something is horribly wrong in the small town of Griffon in upstate New York. There are too many secrets there, too many lies and cover-ups. And Cal has decided to expose those secrets one by one.

That’s his second big mistake.

Cal and Donna's son, Scott, had recently died ... he was high on Ecstasy and jumped off a roof.  Cal and Donna are grieving and it's affecting their marriage ... they feel guilty that they hadn't done enough as parents.  Cal's mission is to find out who gave Scott the drugs and make them pay.

Cal is driving home one night and when he stops at a light, Claire taps on his window, asking for a drive home.  He initially says "no" because he's in his forties and she's a teenager.  But when she says that she knew Scott he figures it's okay.  She wants to make a stop on the way and that's when things go wrong.  Cal, a private detective, won't let it go until he figures out what's going on.

I've read many of this author's books and I liked this one.  It had an interesting storyline.  It's a long book, though ... the writing could have been tighter but it got more exciting and the pace picked up toward the end when things were coming together.

It's written in first person, in Cal's voice, so we know what it going on in his head.  There are some chapters that are written in third person in italics but you don't know who the focus is.  I figured it out about halfway through and it was fun to see the author do the reveal.

I liked the characters.  Cal and Donna are surviving the best they can.  The majority of the characters were interesting and not so innocent in their daily lives ... police corruption, infidelity, etc.

Though I've enjoyed some of his other books more, I'd recommend this book.