It is early October, 1928. This is the twenty-first Cyrus Skeen detective novel. It covers the time when Dilys Jones was his secretary, and before he formed close friendships with Mickey Kane, Lieutenant Raggio, and Lieutenant Donovan. In this episode, Skeen tackles the mystery of the murder of a China Basin warehouseman. The warehouse has been the target of several break-ins with large quantities of wholesale merchandise being stolen. The man was murdered while protecting his property. Skeen interviews the man's sister, Candice, and learns that the man worked assiduously to avoid bankruptcy...

Cyrus Skeen, private eye in 1928 San Francisco, is approached by a captivating French countess, Vanessa Favaul, and a brusque retired British army colonel, Burton Heywood, to find the thief who stole a priceless artifact from countess's mother. At the same time, he wonders why a harmless Austrian junk shop owner and connoisseur of the fine arts in China Basin, the city's industrial underbelly, was brutally murdered. Complicating these matters is the mystery of who wrote a hit play and why the author is so publicity shy. Skeen is further intrigued by his new secretary, Dilys Jones, who...

It is early January, 1929. This is the twenty-second Cyrus Skeen detective novel. It covers the time after Skeen has married Dilys Jones, his intrepid and lovely secretary, and after he has formed close friendships with Mickey Kane, Lieutenant Raggio, and Lieutenant Donovan. Sergeant Hieronymus, his ally in Beginnings, will be making a parting appearance. Linda Bolding, Lucy Wentz, and Clara Reyes, who figure largely over the next twenty cases, have yet to appear as his secretaries. Dilys is settling into her new life with Cyrus. While he has afforded her every comfort, luxury, and advantage...

It is early January, 1930. This is the twenty-third Cyrus Skeen detective novel. It covers the time after Skeen has married Dilys Jones, his intrepid and lovely secretary, and after he has formed close friendships with Mickey Kane, Lieutenant Raggio, and Lieutenant Donovan. Linda Bolding and Lucy Wentz figured largely in over twenty previous cases as his secretaries. Clara Reyes now fills the role as his competent and not-to-be-intimidated secretary. Skeen is called to protect for a second time the atheist lecturer Enoch Paige, who has been charged with the murder of a Pentecostal minister....

It is late January 1930. This is the twenty-fourth Cyrus Skeen detective novel. It covers the time after Skeen has married Dilys Jones, his intrepid and lovely secretary, and after he has formed close friendships with Mickey Kane, Lieutenant Raggio, and Lieutenant Donovan. Sergeant Hieronymus, his ally in Beginnings, will be making a parting appearance. Linda Bolding, Lucy Wentz, and Clara Reyes, who figure largely over the next twenty cases, have yet to appear as his secretaries. Skeen meets the eccentric Dr. Willett Martin, who teaches psychology at Wexford College in San Francisco. Martin...

It is early 1930. This is the twenty-fifth Cyrus Skeen detective novel. Skeen meets the Kentucky moonshiner, Lemuel Skitter, who has been charged with murdering his daughter, Jewell, who eloped with the son of a rival moonshiner, Ezekiel McBride. Skitter's younger daughter, Charlene, hires Skeen to clear him of the murder charge. Skeen meets Skitter in jail, and gets his story of how he was knocked out and woke to find his eldest daughter dead. Lemuel's fingerprints are the only prints on the murder weapon. Skeen tackles one of the most difficult cases of his career, a case skewed by tribal...