In the four years that I-Doc Connor-have played water boy to Lieutenant Marsh's homicide team, I've met some notably undesirable characters. But nothing quite compares to the Angel clan-five brothers and a sister, Anita Angel Ferrier-whose Cuban sugar grew tall and sweet by cabled command from New York. Anita Ferrier, who had heard that my detecting was strictly polite, hired me because she was having trouble, a lot of trouble. One of her brothers was blackmailing her husband about something that had happened in Cuba twenty years ago, something called the Bolado affair. Anita wanted to know which brother it was, and she wanted any documents destroyed . . . unread.

Then beautiful Anita was found beaten to death with a twitch-a leather instrument used to quiet unruly horses-at the Angel estate. One of those five brothers who had teased, pampered, and adored her had killed her in a fit of incredible fury . . . of almost psychopathic rage. It was dirty and degenerate and vicious, and even if I had to risk my life in Cuba, had to dare five hostile Angel brothers, I was determined to unmask the one who had such an uncontained streak of brutality, who had committed two murders and who wanted only to add mine to his list.

Dead Angel was first published in 1953. For more classic mysteries, visit CoachwhipBooks.com.