Blowback — Bill Pronzini

Tensions are building at Harry Burroughs' fishing camp in the Sierra Nevada as a beautiful woman, her obsessively jealous husband, and several other men gather together. Burroughs calls in his old service buddy, the Nameless Detective, to prevent violence from erupting. When murder finally strikes, however, it comes from an entirely different direction and triggers a series of harrowing events that leads to a totally unexpected conclusion.

Blowback is a prime example of the West Coast private eye novel. Its readers will understand why the Nameless Detective's fans continue to grow in number with each of his successive adventures.