The Eighth Circle

In this Edgar Award winner from "one of the modern masters of the genre," a private detective gets too close to the case while investigating a crooked cop (Edward D. Hoch). The investigators of the Conmy-Kirk detective agency don't work in trench coats, drink on the job, or carry pistols. They are researchers who comb newspapers and government records in search of the tiny details that could make or break their clients' fortunes. It is painstaking and unromantic, but as co-owner Murray Kirk is about to learn, those details can mean the difference between life and death. The district attorney is cracking down on corruption in the NYPD, and the search is spreading like wildfire, forcing hundreds of policemen to resign in disgrace. When Conmy-Kirk is hired to clear the name of one of the accused, Kirk finds himself falling for his client's daughter, a moral infraction that draws him deeper into the city's underworld than he ever wanted to slip. This work isn't like it is in the movies—if Murray Kirk catches a bullet, he'll stay dead. "A book that defies categories . . . Absorbingly readable." —The New York Times "Ellin consistently wrote the best mystery stories of his time." —Lawrence Block