PI Nate Ross thinks he has a simple case when he's hired for a penny-ante theft caper. But that's before one of his suspects is killed in a back alley. While Nate didn't witness the crime, he did see the victim go into the alley with someone that Nate helped put in prison five years ago. However, a few hours later, that man turns up at Nate's office claiming to be innocent and hiring Nate to clear him before disappearing again. Nate buys most of the story, but he knows he didn't get the whole truth. That feeling only grows as he starts to investigate. Can he figure out the whole truth?
This is a great trip back to 1939 Hollywood, and the setting comes to life. As a throwback PI novel, it does start out with a little too much jargon of the time, but fortunately, that calms down as we get into the story. It does have a bit more violence and foul language than in one of the cozies I read, but it doesn't go overboard. The plot is strong with quite a few twists, compilations, and half-truths before we reach the fun climax. Nate much face his past here, and we are reminded about enough to make the growth real. Meanwhile, we get a couple of fun returning characters and a batch of great new ones. If you enjoy PI novels set in this era, this is one to check out.
