Mitch Tobin is a hard-nosed, disgraced ex-cop who spends his days building a wall around his back yard-until Ernie Rembeck walks into his life. Rembeck is a suave, educated mobster whose mistress has vanished along with the money he had stashed in her apartment. Now Mitch is looking for Rembeck's missing possessions and the persons responsible for their disappearance, and he is in for a wild ride. This take on the classic private eye novel is the first in a series by Westlake, heralded by New York Times critic Anthony Boucher as the rightful heir to Dashiell Hammett.

Genre: Mystery