Browning P.I. — Peter Corris

‘The big black car came up out of nowhere… I heard a siren and slowed down and pulled over like an honest citizen. The next thing I knew two men with hats pulled down over their eyes and sunglasses on above their tough expressions were pulling open the front doors of my car. I heard May Lin scream and saw a gun…'

Hollywood. Studio screenwriter Hart Sallust, well-known patron of sleazy bars and nightclubs, has disappeared. Peter McVey, private eye, has been hired to find him. In unfamiliar territory, McVey enlists Browning â€" part-time actor, part-time private eye â€" at home in any Hollywood bar.

From Hollywood bars to the Chinese underworld, their search uncovers the beautiful May Lin. With Sallust when he disappeared, and seemingly inconsolable. Or is she? Her story has ‘more holes in it than a flyscreen'.

This fast-paced, witty novel from Peter Corris features a cameo appearance from Raymond Chandler â€" master crime-writer and friend of McVey's. His advice: find out what Sallust was writing when he disappeared…