Gault created football-star Brock the Rock Callahan in 1955 as a private detective with broad appeal. When he brought Callahan out of retirement in the 1980's for a new set of novels, Gault probably had novels like Donegal Bay in mind. Here, we encounter an older Callahan, retired in fictional San Valdesto (Santa Barbara thinly disguised), married, settled down, wealthy, but still dabbling in the trade. This case brings together figures from Callahan's past who he met in his early years with the Rams and who he met at a party at Jan's many years before. But even in bucolic San Valdesto, murder, blackmail, and general thuggery rear their ugly heads.

Like most books in this series, Donegal Bay is an easy read and the violence is kept at a minimum. Much of the story involves twists and turns, hunches, head fakes, and seemingly unrelated events. It, of course, all ties together in the end. Very well done. ( )

Gault published 14 novels between 1955 and 1992 that featured Brock Callahan, a southern California private detective. Callahan is an ex- football player, and as a private eye, his major strength lies with his tenacity rather than his intellect (in other words, he's dumb but stubborn). In this novel, Brock and his young protégé Corey each tackle separate cases that turn out to be related. Drugs, murder, mutual blackmail are involved, as are an eccentric millionaire, a crooked attorney, an ex- prize fighter, a surfer, a missing maid, and a mysteriously murdered vagrant. I found the tale to be too convoluted, the characters too numerous and unmemorable, and the plot uninteresting. Thus, while a fan of the genre, I don't expect to read others of the series. ( )