Every Bet's A Sure Thing by Thomas B. Dewey

Thomas B. Dewey's private eye Mac returns for more action in a superior mystery than the first, as Mac trails a woman and her small children from Chicago to Los Angeles into a nasty web of violence.

Lieutenant Donovan recommended Mac for the job with the International Agency, who sent him all expenses paid on the Los Angeles Limited. He was to follow Harriett Mitchell, her six-year-old son Roger, and three-year-old daughter without being detected. The last operative was discovered and shot dead in the street. He befriends little Roger on the journey, the two playing cards to pass the time, and Harriett, a thin, mousy woman bitterly escaping a dangerous husband, who puts her faith in Mac when she discovers the cargo she is unknowingly carrying. At the halfway point, Mac's trail is made by a henchman who physically throws him off the train, into the black rush of air, doubling over with a sprained ankle when he hits the ground. Somehow, he must make it back to the train in Las Vegas, where a doctor continually shoots his ankle with novocaine so he can keep going. In California, Mac is unable to hand the case over to local operatives when the children are kidnapped for ransom. He works with a twitching junkie to explore the dark alleys of Los Angeles, the cheap bars, and burlesque houses, where a drug kingpin is calling the shots. He also runs into wealthy Mr. London and his wife, Mrs. London, who know much more than she is willing to tell and likes to control the situation with a whip.

This second entry in the series has more emotional heart, as Mac befriends the children and will put it all on the line for them. This is a nasty web of lies and double-crosses, a superior private eye mystery in a series I want to seek out. It's two days of grinding vigilance and street smarts, but you can bet Mac will find justice if he has to tear Los Angeles apart. And with enough money, every bet's a sure thing.

1953 / Hardcover / 226 pages

My other review for Thomas B. Dewey

Draw Close The Curtain (Mac #1)