Joker in the Deck — Richard S. Prather

Shell Scott has been dealt a really lousy hand and the stakes are somebody's life--probably his. What will the luck of the draw bring to our hard-boiled hero? Will Shell find the culprit in this full house of crooks and cons or will the queen of hearts call his bluff? A four-of-a-kind is no match for a .44 slug in this all-hours game of guns and girls, guts and grit, life and death. Here the women are crazy and the joker's wild, but so is Shell Scott! Honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Private Eye Writers of America! Joker in the Deck is the 27th book in the Shell Scott Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.