Evans, John - Halo in Blood (1946)

Hard boiled detective novel

The first Paul Pine private eye novel.  Set in Chicago and Oak Park.  Rich man hires Pine to discredit his wild daughter's fiancé.  But while tailing the daughter he witnesses the murder of the fiancé.  Pine soon discovers that the man who hired him is not in fact the girl's real father and that there was an armored car robbery from his past that is hanging over his head.  Blackmailers, a Sydney Greenstreet style casino owner, and lots of gambling also figure into the plot.  Several more bodies turn up before the surprising (well, not SO surprising) finale.  And excellent private eye novel.  Should be a classic.  Inexplicable why it hasn't remained in print all these years.  It's right up there with all of Chandler's work.

J.F. Norris