In this dandy little collection from Shamus-winner Haywood (Fear of the Dark
), Los Angeles PI Aaron Gunner narrates some of the five tales and listens to others told by cronies from haunts such as Mickey's Trueblood Barber Shop, where Gunner has an office in back, or the funky Acey Deuce bar, where big Lilly Tennell holds sway. In “And Pray Nobody Sees You,” Gunner tells how he was hired to retrieve a rare '65 Ford Mustang. Gunner shadows an employee who shows signs of going postal in “It's Always the Quiet Ones” and tries to prevent an ex-con from killing the woman whose testimony sent him up in “The Lamb Was Sure to Go.” Lilly relates a story about a man who suddenly snaps in “The Minute She Walked Through the Door,” and in the longest and best entry, “In Name Only,” Gunner tells an unusual story about identity theft. Lawrence Block provides an introduction, Jeffery Deaver an afterword and artist Phil Parks 17 illustrations. (July)
