The tense hustle of wartime New York provides the background for some tough investigation as the indomitable gumshoe Jack LeVine takes on a nasty case involving a chorus girl, blackmail, several scattered corpses, presidential politics, and some dirty business that could change the course of the war. "Bergman, who knows the private-eye genre...has created his own specimen named Jack LeVine....He is tough, wisecracking, lonely, determined, smart as the next man - the exemplar of the species." -The New York Times Book Review "It is without doubt the nearest thing to genuine Chandler I've ever come across....Tough, witty - very witty - and a beautiful eye for period detail, which makes it a smashing read." -Jack Higgins "A fine piece of invention, written with great energy and humanity and style." -Ross Macdonald

Private eye Jack LeVine, called to a Hollywood movie lot to investigate a murder, ends up having to deal with a clutch of famous movie stars and politicians and the House Committee on Un-American Activities

In a tale of kidnapping and classical music set in the 1950s, private detective Jack LeVine investigates allegations that conductor Arturo Toscanini has been abducted and replaced by an imposter.