Growing up on a small farm in eastern Oregon, USA, Finch Redburn, in his limited free time away from chores, developed an interest in American and British detective stories. Determined to obtain a private investigator's license, he moved west across his state to Eugene. There, in 1976, he opened for business, combining the pragmatic tough-guy approach of Philip Marlowe with a tinge of Sherlock Holmes. Dressed in colorful 1940s-era suits and fedora, the strapping Redburn, assisted by his ex-gymnast secretary, Karen Bottomsly, sort out missing person cases, stolen company secrets and murder in a glamorous jazz club.