We'll Always Have Murder by Bill Crider

We'll Always Have Murder by Bill Crider is DetecToday's featured novel for September.

In the late 1940s, Terry Scott is a PI working for Warner Bros., helping the studio's stars avoid scandal. Scott is asked to talk with fellow PI Frank Burleson, who's threatened to blackmail Humphrey Bogart. Scott and Bogart arrive to find Burleson shot dead, a pistol belonging to Bogart lying nearby.

While unraveling who had means, motive, and opportunity for the shooting, Scott and Bogart must sidestep aggressive cops who'd like to pin the crime on them. Writing from Scott's P.O.V., Crider leaves just the right air of mystery around Bogart himself. Crider's style is crisp and his plot well paced. I enjoyed putting Bogart's voice to his lines. While I sometimes skim books as I near the end, We'll Always Have Murder held my attention to the very last line. Thanks, Bill.