From Booklist
Steve Malek is a reporter for the
Chicago Tribune in 1938. Lloyd Martindale is the heir to a huge steel fortune and is mounting a challenge to the incumbent mayor, Edward J Kelly. The key to his platform is stamping out organized crime, so when he is gunned down, conventional wisdom pins the killing on the Mob. Malek, trying to resuscitate his career after a battle with the bottle and a divorce, doesn't buy the Mob theory. His suspicions are confirmed when he is summoned to the Joliet penitentiary to meet with Al Capone. The legendary crime boss assures Malek that his boys had nothing to do with Martindale's death and makes it clear that Malek will be healthier if he finds out who the real killer was. Goldsborough, best known as the heir to Rex Stout via his half-dozen Nero Wolfe novels, creates a prewar Chicago that is at once sinister and appealing. He also weaves an engaging subplot involving Dizzy Dean and the Chicago Cubs' drive to the 1938 World Series. An enormously entertaining caper.
Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
