Sinners and Shrouds by Jonathan Latimer

A reporter becomes his own story when he wakes up next to a corpse

Sam Clay wakes with a dry mouth, a hammering headache, and only the faintest memory of what he did the night before. He remembers dancing, jazz, taxi rides, and a brandy-fueled ride on a roller coaster, but he has no idea how he got home, and he is lost as to the identity of the straw-haired beauty beside him. He is just about to introduce himself when he notices the blood on the sheets, the wounds on her chest, and the ice-cold pallor of her skin. His bedmate is dead.

Clay is a newspaperman, and sharp enough to know that he is being framed. But by whom? Clay will have to stay two steps ahead of the cops to track down this story, which will lead him either to the scoop of a lifetime or to a long nap in a cold grave.

“Latimer ranks as one of a triumvirate of the early masters of the hard-boiled school, along with Hammett and Chandler.” —Anthony Boucher

“A shrewdly concocted blend of exciting suspense.” —Chicago Tribune on Sinners and Shrouds

“[Latimer’s] characters might be people you know, and their talk is just as real and much more amusing, especially when they are a little drunk.” —The New York Times