Beverly Crystal had a million-dollar idea and a circle of "friends" who would never force her to hunt around for enemies.
The happy crew included:
Danny the Dance: who waltzed his way through life like a man sliding down a banister made of razor-blades.
Mickey Bokino: who let money flow through his fingers like the acid he kept ready for people who couldn't, or wouldn't, pay him back.
Vinnie Veneto: who owned everything and everybody and had his fingers in more pies than a drunken pasty chef on the morning after.
And:
Peter Chambers: a private eye with a buck to make and more than a couple of murders to solve ... provided the law couldn't pin the couple already committed on one Peter Chambers.
It was neck and neck all the way, with Death closing in in the backstretch and a loaded gun in an unknown hand waiting at the finish line.