William B Deutscher

The Drowning Life William B Deutscher

There are strange goings-on in a seemingly quiet college town by the sea, and it's up to private detective James Laud to get to the bottom of it all. Laud's first order of business is to find out who has been writing poison pen letters about Henry Jacoby, a young academic. In this task Laud is assisted by his associate, Melanie Taylor, a beautiful and beguiling courtesan who quickly casts a powerful erotic spell on the hapless Jacoby. Things go from bad to worse as Laud attempts to bring a semblance of order to an increasingly chaotic state of affairs. This novel - the author's first - is a satirical fusion of Joseph Heller and Dashiell Hammett that will keep the reader guessing until the very end.