Samuel G. Abbott is our narrator, an ex-pug, gun expert and investigator for the Los Angeles DA's office. Abbott is tough, quick-witted, and scared of only one thing -- getting in Dutch with his young wife Ethel. The story begins with Abbott in the home of wealthy no-good Harvey Wallace. Wallace has been blackmailing Ethel, but he's not going to blackmail anyone any more, thanks to three .32 slugs forming a neat triangle in his rapidly cooling chest. Abbott retrieves the incriminating letters and high-tails it out of there. He has a few hours to prepare an alibi before his boss puts him to work -- investigating the Wallace case.
Langham, a screenwriter, is clearly writing with film in mind. The book cuts back and forth between Abbott's domestic life with the ditzy but endearing Ethel and the chequered progress of the Wallace investigation. There are plenty of clues and an abundance of red herrings, but it seems to be only a matter of time before Abbott runs out of other suspects and has to arrest himself. Langham has a few more surprises up his sleeve, though, before the trap is finally sprung. Coincidences abound, and some of the loose ends are not tied up quite tight enough, but the book has pace, charm and a few laugh-out-loud moments.
Part of Abbott's plot involves a gambling ship operating off the coast of California outside the three-mile limit, a plot device also used in at least one Perry Mason book. It sounds as if it was based on fact: can anyone fill in more detail on this?
First-rate medium-boiled story from an occasional author who deserves to be better known.
Jon.
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