Jake Whittaker, P.I. — Diane Johnson

Why did Cora Lee's mother disappear?A quirky private investigator attempts to help a homeless 8-year-old find her missing mother. What could possibly go wrong?“It's okay to be silly,” eight-year-old Cora Lee says as she watches Jack fumble his way forward to find the answers.Jack doesn't care much for kids, but when Cora Lee walks into his office alone, he can't resist her quirky smile. Struggling to save enough for first and months last month's rent, Cora Lee and her mother have been living in a car. She can't turn to the police because they'd be forced to take her away from her mother.On the surface, Jack seems unorganized, disheveled, and probably someone you wouldn't want to hire. But somehow Jack Whittaker makes sense of the senseless -- or at least comes up with a solution, even if it's fueled by day-old donuts or a beer from Frank's bar.Fans of Veronica Mars, Colombo, and Monk will fall in love with the characters in this story. Full of unexpected twists and turns reveal that there's more to what we see when you look close enough.