Having those words echo in your mind forces you to examine the unfolding story as in that light: all of a sudden, as the reader you're poking and prodding the unfolding evidence, hunting for the secret that has seemingly eluded discovery for thirty-six years, trying to identify what pieces of information were so "wrong" that demanded such attention after so long. While it also makes you assume at the outset that the investigation of her death must have yielded the wrong conclusion, Parker seems willing to abandon that sense of suspense for a corresponding impression of inevitability, that this is also a story about how sometimes, our perception of the past is simply wrong.

This isn't a rousing tale of action and adventure, nor is it a gruesome murder mystery despite the fact that the victim is discovered without a head. It is instead an often poignant and moving eulogy to the California that once was, and to the passion of youth and the steady beat of time. I was impressed with how Parker managed to develop the various threads of his story and incorporate the multiple leads into the investigation. Perhaps the greatest quibble was with David's character: it seemed as though David's secrets were almost too teasingly developed. The other complaint might be with Parker's use of characters like Nixon, Leary, or Manson as a backdrop for his story, but then again it would have been wrong to tell a story set in the environment Parker chose for this story and then ignore the history of the period. That said, I still have a problem with the inclusion of Manson in what appeared to be a throw-away scene as an obnoxious character Andy encounters in a bar: one could argue (and I might) that while the scene was fine, the use of Manson's character was a bit gratuitous.

That said, California Girl is a murder mystery that ranks with the best in terms of storytelling, compelling characters, and an engaging writing style. Parker draws you in quickly and doesn't let go: the book hums along at a deceptively leisurely pace, and you quickly begin to take as much interest in some of the subordinate storylines as you do in solving the mystery of Janelle's death. It's a trip into the past, into the "different world" of the late 1960s - a different world that at times seems ever so familiar.