Catfish Café
Catfish Café by Earl W. Emerson, published by Ballantine Books in 1998, is a first edition novel that spans 309 pages. This work follows Seattle private investigator Thomas Black as he delves into the mysterious disappearance of Balinda, a young woman with a troubled past. As Black investigates, he uncovers a series of unsettling clues, including a wrecked car and a dead Eagle Scout, leading him to question the circumstances surrounding Balinda’s vanishing act.
Readers will find a narrative rich in mystery and detective elements, exploring themes of city life and the complexities of human relationships. The story takes a darker turn as Black and his former partner, Luther Little, trace Balinda’s last known whereabouts to a seemingly innocuous diner called Catfish Café. The plot unfolds with clever prose and a blend of intrigue and wit, inviting readers to navigate the twists and turns of this hard-boiled tale.
Official synopsis Publisher
“What in hell drove Balinda to a night like this?” Everyone who knew Balinda could have told Seattle private eye Thomas Black that the ex-choir girl thumbed a ride with the devil a long time ago. But not even Luther Little, Balinda’s father and Black’s former partner, expected the pretty young woman to simply vanish off the face of the earth.
Even stranger than Balinda’s disappearance is what she left in her wake: an empty purse, a wrecked car, and a dead Eagle Scout in the backseat pumped four times in the stomach with an automatic. What’s more, Balinda never even gave notice at her last job–a cozy little backwater diner where a freezer might keep more than crawdads on ice.
It isn’t until Balinda’s driver is identified that Thomas and Luther suspect trouble. For it turns out that the victim was a fifth-grade Tacoma schoolteacher with an impeccable reputation. But tracking the past of a white-bread teacher is more hazardous than it sounds. Especially when it leads Thomas and Luther back to that modest little eat-in/take-out . . . called Catfish Café.
You can get anything you want at Catfish Café. But watch out. Some of it bites back.
Serving up nothing less than a wickedly devious plot, clever, textured prose, and a classic combination of intrigue and wit, Catfish Café solidifies Emerson’s reputation as a master of hard-boiled suspense.
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