Red Winter

PI Dan Kruger investigates blackmail, politicians and communists in his highly engaging return. A nominee for membership in Chicago's most elite group of power brokers, builder Nicholas Cheyney hires Kruger to be the middleman in his blackmail problems; Cheyney reveals that he was once a member of the Communist Party, and he knows that it will cost him plenty to keep the fact a secret. Kruger wonders, however, if the blackmailers are in possession of more serious information, and his suspicions accelerate after he is warned by both cops and politicians to forget about the investigation. Even stranger, however, are the thugs who tail and beat up Kruger, telling him that they're working for the same mysterious party members he's negotiating with. Kruger is eventually fired by Cheyney, but he doesn't stop sleuthing. An ex-cop who retired after accidentally shooting a bystander, Kruger is likable, and his determination is one of his winning traits. Readers will keep wishing him the best as he smokes and drinks his way though Cormany's many suspenseful traps. Mysterious Book Club dual main selection. (Apr.)