Dial 'M' for Murdock — Robert J. Ray

"Crusty but softhearted Matt Murdock is a damn fine private-eye, but being his client has its hazards. Especially when you''re not straight with him. Insurance investigator Bruce Halliburton hires his old army buddy to check into what he suspects is a faked death and winds up on LA''s Huntington Beach, dead for real. That leaves Roxanne, the lovely widow Bruce was ""protecting""-the same Roxanne whose chubby husband, Emiliano Mendez-Madrid, died of a heart attack after insuring his life ten times over. How is Roxanne Mendez-Madrid connected to Claude Belker, the subject of Bruce''s investigation? Claude is also officially ""deceased,"" and he''s one of several heavily insured, supposedly dead rich guys. Then there''s Claude''s girlfriend-Mary-Sue, aka Sheena, a glossy exotic dancer .... Who knows what about the case? What''s Roxanne up to? And where are Emiliano''s missing millions, the spoils of money-laundering for drug lords? Roxanne hires Matt to find the money and keep her safe. Now he smells trouble. If he falls too hard for the widow and connects all the dots, he might just end up decorated with a line of lead like his old pal Bruce."