In this mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author of the Peter Duluth series, Lieutenant Trant investigates the murder of a shady and seductive scoundrel. Patrick Quentin, best known for the Peter Duluth puzzle mysteries, also penned outstanding detective novels from the 1930s through the 1960s under other pseudonyms, including Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge. Anthony Boucher wrote: "Quentin is particularly noted for the enviable polish and grace which make him one of the leading American fabricants of the murderous comedy of manners; but this surface smoothness conceals intricate and meticulous plot construction as faultless as that of Agatha Christie." George Hadley just wanted to be happy. Caught up in a world where money, propriety, and, above all, appearances hold sway, he's more than willing to leave his wealthy socialite wife and run off with his secretary if it means being free. That's when he meets the young, handsome Don Saxon. A lothario with a shadowy past, he soon worms his way into George's inner circle, enchanting his wife, seducing his niece—and threatening to reveal George's affair. So when his niece finds Don in his apartment shot dead, George should be relieved. But then, the intrepid Lieutenant Trant starts taking a closer look at George's life and his growing list of lies. Unless George can figure out who really killed Don, he's never going to be happy—or free—again . . .