Cut You Down (David Wakeland) by Sam Wiebe

Tabitha Sorenson dipped her hands in the college fund and disappeared. Her college professor hires PI David Wakeland to find her and ends up sleeping with him. I cannot say more about this plot without spoiling too much but I guarantee you that there will be twists you didn't see coming as half way the book it turns out in a whole different direction.

The other plot is about how David's ex-girlfriend, who's also a cop, asks him to investigate her corrupt partner.
There's the darkness of the first novel alleviated by some nice funny tough guy dialogue and more tender moments of the first novel in this series. There's also a more spare writing style and short chapters that I personally have loved since picking up my first Spenser novel. Good stuff once again.