Alessandra Martillo is just another Puerto Rican girl who's run away from the projects in the Bronx until her uncle takes her in and teaches her how to take care of herself. Now she's working for a sleazy P.I., repossessing cars and trolling for waitstaff on the take. But when the head of an Irish mob family, Mickey Caughlan, wants to find out who's setting him up from inside, Al is exactly the woman for the job.

Norman Green, author of four hard-boiled novels, debuts a fresh, edgy character in Alessandra Martillo, a female take on the P.I.s of yesteryear. Tough and sometimes heartless, smart and altogether too brave for her own good, Al picks up where Sam Spade, Mike Hammer and V.I. Warshawski leave off.

Genre: Mystery