I’m desperately trying to remember which book this is, and I thought I would ask you if you recognize it. It annoys me no end that I can't come up with the title! I’m sorry for being fuzzy on the details. It's been more than 10 years since I read it. It’s definitely a crime novel.

The male protagonist comes into contact with a young woman and her small son. I’m pretty sure it’s through his work. The father of the child is no longer around, it’s possible that he is dead. The woman is murdered and the child disappears. The protagonist finds out that the paternal grandfather is famous. Either he used to be a movie star, or he is a cult leader. (Or he might have been both). He and his family live on some sort of compound that the protagonist sneaks into. He finds the little boy, who sleeps in a vintage bed shaped like a car, likely the bed his father once used. He is not, however, treated well. The protagonist hears a woman (the child’s grandmother?) berate him for crying. The protagonist is captured, but before he is killed the police arrive. In the aftermath they find at least one murder victim buried in the grounds.

I was sure this book was actually one of the Alex Delawere books by Jonathan Kellerman. But I have re-read them now, and this book never came up. Granted, there are so many of them, so it may be a Kellerman book that I have somehow missed. I’d be so grateful if anyone knows which book this is!