A complex whodunit penned by pulp master Frank Gruber. Movie stars outsource their fan mail intercourse. Some to PR firms, some to indie operators like Julia Joliet. Not a likely candidate for murder; but in this case, an exception. Gruber’s inventive investigator is an heir loss expert. You lost ‘em, Tom Alder’ll find ‘em. And that means a surprise inheritance for the heir and likewise a healthy commission for Alder. When he starts detangling the Joliet mess, he teases out heartthrob Leroy Dane, a Hollywood pretty boy with a felonious history buried under his matinee sheen.

Unlike his era’s typical PI impoverishment, Alder is flush with cash and resources, so when the trail leads to the Big Apple or even Chi-town, he’s aloft in a New York minute. The deepening mystery is enough to keep readers’ propelled, but Gruber throws in an unexpected visit to Alder’s private abode by none other than Jacques Pleschette, a conman of Shamus-Award-worthy character. A bro begging for the silver screen. (And incidentally, played by Jacques Aubuchon in Joseph M. Newman’s adaptation of the novel—produced by Gruber himself!)

Although Joliet never appears animate, Gruber provides plenty of mysterious women and romantic moments to engage Alder’s reserve, including Doris Delaney, Nikki Collinson, and Linda Foster. A pulp fiction masterpiece, Gruber delivers an enthralling, tangled mystery sure to please.