Campaign for the American Reader: Pg. 69: "Candy from Strangers"

Candy from Strangers is the third volume in Mark Coggins' "August Riordan" mystery series.

Mark put his novel to the "page 69 test" and reported back:

Candy from Strangers involves the disappearance of a young woman named Caroline Stockwell who has set up a web site with a girlfriend to solicit cash and gifts via Amazon.com wish lists. The Goth-themed site features pictures and videos of the young women that range from mild to racy and often involve indulging the fetishes of their creepy fan base.
When Caroline goes missing, her mother hires PI August Riordan to find her, but neither Riordan nor Mrs. Stockwell realize at the outset that Caroline has the web site — and that someone she met through it may have abducted her.

Caroline is going to art school in San Francisco and is working part time at a coffee shop to help pay tuition. On page 69 of the book, Riordan is interviewing the manager of the shop to see if he can supply anything that might prove useful in locating her.

The interview itself is not very productive. The only nugget of value surfaces when Riordan asks if Caroline has friends on the staff. The manager replies:

“If I’m honest, I’d have to say no. Caroline’s a bit of a loner. She always took her breaks by herself, usually to walk up and down 24^th Street snapping photos. I was probably as close to her as anyone in the store, and that’s not saying much.”

This gives some insight into Caroline’s character and the alienation she feels from co-workers, family and fellow students.

The interview is cut short when the manager rushes off to deal with a minor emergency in the shop. Riordan lingers to look at an exhibit of Caroline’s photographs in the store’s community exhibition space, and as he is reading the accompanying artist’s statement — and the page rolls over to 70 — the manger returns.

He is carrying a load of boxes from Amazon.com that Caroline has shipped to the store to avoid alerting her parents to her extracurricular income. The manager thrusts them into Riordan’s arms and asks if he can deliver them to Caroline’s home, as there isn’t room for them on the premises.
Although he doesn’t understand their full significance, this is Riordan’s first clue that Caroline has been soliciting proverbial candy from strangers.

Many thanks to Mark for the input.

Read an excerpt from Candy from Strangers.

Among the praise for Candy from Strangers:

"I've been waiting a long time for a fresh look at the private eye story. Mark Coggins has delivered it here ... It’s original, its smart and it was good to the last page."
—Michael Connelly

"[A] gripping ... hard-boiled exploit... Riordan's street smarts and witty asides will make him a familiar—and welcome—figure to fans of Robert Parker's Boston PI, Spenser."
—Publishers Weekly

"This third outing for Coggins's private investigator August Riordan proves him a worthy successor to the iconic Sam Spade... [A] volume that fits comfortably alongside those of Hammett and Chandler. Heartily recommended."
—Library Journal

"A mystery that puts on paper the problems modern society has with a need for instant gratification and a social structure more and more based on computer screens and keyboards. Coggins makes human and real what is to many just a story in the news. And he does it with humor, skill and depth."
—Crimespree Magazine

"Crackling and whip smart ... Coggins' novel reincarnates the heady excesses of earlier chroniclers of debauchery in the Golden State, such as Roger L. Simon and Arthur Lyons."
—Mystery Scene Magazine