A wealthy Pasadena widow with a mean streak a missing daughter-in-law with a past and a gold coin worth a small fortune—the elements don't quite add up until Marlowe discovers evidence of murder rape blackmail and the worst kind of human exploitation. "Raymond Chandler is a star of the first magnitude."-- Erle Stanley Gardner "Raymond Chandler has given us a detective who is hard-boiled enough to be convincing . . . and that is no mean achievement." -- The New York Times