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.