New York-based private investigator Cass Blue is a morally flexible tough guy who backs up his hard-boiled rhetoric with frequent applications of the blackjack he carries in a hip pocket. No case is too seedy or sordid for him to take, and he's capable of taking as much as he dishes out when it's necessary. The cops don't trust him much more than they do the criminals, but that doesn't keep him from giving clients full value for their retainers. With the dubious assistance of speakeasy owner Al Lascoine, Cass sasses and slugs his way through a succession of Depression-era adventures. The Cass Blue yarns are related in the first person by stylish pulp writer John Lawrence, who guides his protagonist through a maze of conventional plots and countless gunfights. What the series lacks in polish and innovation, it makes up for with vigorous action and the tough-as-nails attitude that gave Dime Detective the distinctive flavor that made it the most important crime pulp excepting the legendary Black Mask.