New York-based private investigator Cass Blue is a morally flexible tough guy who backs up his hard-boiled rhetoric with frequent applications of the blackjack he carries in a hip pocket. No case is too seedy or sordid for him to take, and he�s capable of taking as much as he dishes out when it�s necessary. The cops don�t trust him much more than they do the criminals, but that doesn�t keep him from giving clients full value for their retainers. With the dubious assistance of speakeasy owner Al Lascoine, Cass sasses and slugs his way through a succession of Depression-era adventures.
The Cass Blue yarns are related in the first person by stylish pulp writer John Lawrence, who guides his protagonist through a maze of conventional plots and countless gunfights. What the series lacks in polish and innovation, it makes up for with vigorous action and the tough-as-nails attitude that gave Dime Detective the distinctive flavor that made it the most important crime pulp excepting the legendary Black Mask.
