PORTRAIT OF A PRIVATE COP... "Call me Mac... I'm just a guy. I go around and get in jams and then try to figure a way out of them. I don't make very much money and most people insult me one way or another... I'm a fairly good shot with small arms, show-thinking but thorough, and very dirty in a clinch." Mac gets into a jam this time even when he turns a job down. And all because of a book, an ex-gangster's patrician wife, and a red-headed cabaret doll. When all the blood is washed off and the smoke clears away, Mac has a murderer pinned down -- but he doesn't earn much more than a reputation as the most indestrictible man in the business. "Thomas B. Dewey is one of detective fiction's severely underrated writers!" -- Bill Pronzini "Mac has been called one of the most believable and humane PI's in crime fiction. He is reluctant to use either his gun or his fists, but will do so when the situation demands it, or in self-defense; he doesn't merely solve his clients' cases, but provides moral support and sympathy as well; and perhaps most notable of all, Mac feels, and is not afraid to show itópain, loss, sorrow, loneliness." --thrillingdetective.com