Deadly Innocents

Paul Shaw, ex-actor, now New York operative for a bicoastal private investigation firm, travels to Los Angeles to meet with Robby Asher, a new client. But Asher is found knifed and hanging from a hook in the building where Shaw's office is located. The only clue to Asher's murder lies in his recent arrest for stealing a load of prescription pills. His youthful accomplices, all from prominent families, are also to stand trial, and the press is having a field day implicating Asher as the Charles Mansonlike mastermind of a punk-style crime gang. Shaw is determined to find the killer, but Sandra, Asher's widow, proves an amorous distraction that clouds his judgment, and Shaw walks into a dangerous situation that almost costs him his life. The writing is blunt and free of frills, but there are no surprises in this typical hardboiled mystery. February 15