Set during prohibition in San Francisco the MC is a PI I enjoyed the writing style and the characters portrayed, the secretary is an evolving character and she seems to be coming into her own in this first book. The investigative style is more realistic than some as it takes some going from one person to another to elicit the facts. The characters are involved in the theater and seem more literate that alot of the PI novels. Kind of like the Thin Man of a different era.