Over the years I've probably read most of the books in Gardner's long Perry Mason series, but I'm not sure I've read any others before in his shorter, less famous D.A. series. Doug Selby, a D.A. in rural Southern California, is in effect a clone of Perry Mason but working the other side of the aisle: he's a babe magnet of fundamental decency who's not averse to shaving the edges of the law if the result justifies it. In this book he sorts out a complicated entanglement involving an inheritance, murder, a marriage that should never have been, and more. As always with Gardner, it's a fast, fun read that doesn't leave much of an impression behind it. ( )

Amazing how fast one can read when one picks the right books. This was a fun little read. I rate it as just below Agatha Christie, about the Lillian Jackson Braun level. ( )