"I don't know a hell of a lot about you, Peters, but I know you stand up on your word."
"It's all I've got to sell," I agreed.
"Naw, you've got a big mouth and a hard head," he said.

Yeah, that's Toby Peters, a private eye in WWII Los Angeles. Think "The Maltese Falcon" or "The Big Sleep", but with a lighter attitude and the hero gets beat up a lot more.

Heavyweight champ Joe Louis stumbles across a murder scene and chases off the killers, but is found standing over the corpse, with bloody hands. And the man was beaten to death. Uh-oh!

Toby ends up being hunted by the cops, the mob, and a very determined killer. Also, the dead man is the husband of the ex-wife that Toby still loves.

I always enjoy the Toby Peters mysteries. ( )

Kaminsky takes listeners on another trip back to World War II America in this Toby Peters mystery. Originally published in 1985, the book is vintage Kaminsky as real-life people seek help from Toby's private detective agency. Here, boxing legend Joe Louis finds himself involved in murder. "The Brown Bomber" has discovered a body on the beach at Santa Monica, but when he's thought to be a suspect, he calls on Toby to help him out. It's not long before Toby finds out that not everyone wants him poking around the investigation; a particularly nasty fellow finds a most ingenious use for a telephone book as he tries to persuade Toby to "butt out." Tom Parker's staccato presentation helps to set the mood for this lively noir mystery; his ability to wring a laugh out of Kaminsky's text makes this an audiobook that will be a welcome addition to any library