When the phone rings in the middle of the night, publisher Guy Mallon learns his book warehouse has burned to the ground. Rushing to the scene, he and arson inspector Rosa Macdonald see a total loss. And a burned body. Guy Mallon Books faces bankruptcy and the probable dissolution of its partnership--Carol Murphy, Guy's lover and business manager, fed up, had already split. But why is her car spotted parked nearby?

Guy begins the story lunching with retired businessman Fritz Marburger. Like the devil himself, Marburger tempts Guy with a proposition: to publish celebrity jazz singer Sweet Lorraine Evans' novel, which he will underwrite. It's the first step in a Faustian bargain that finds Guy getting a whiff of the sweet smell of success, followed by the increasingly noxious fumes as the crass Marburger becomes Lorraine's agent, rents Guy's warehouse space, and saddles him with an amoral co-tenant: Roger Herndon pornographer turned vanity publisher. All Roger needs is ace computerist Gracie Worth to help set up his operation.

Supported by two Santa Barbara poets with strong backs and by the sometimes puzzling actions of Gracie and her friend/lover Kitty Katz—two strippers forming the core of Roger's stable of porn stars and production assistants--Guy first tries to make a go of the new venture and then, post murder, to bring Roger down and reclaim his own soul, not to mention Carol.

Reviews

"In Daniel's engaging second Guy Mallon whodunit (after 2005'sThe Poet's Funeral ), an unscrupulous businessman, Fritz Marburger, offers Mallon, a smalltime poetry publisher and bookseller based in Santa Barbara, Calif., a chance to branch out. Marburger is willing to front the money to enable Mallon to publish a roman  clef by Sweet Lorraine Evans, a celebrity jazz singer. Despite the misgivings of his longtime manager and lover, Carol Murphy, Mallon succumbs to temptation and soon finds himself in bed with assorted unsavory characters. When the book deal implodes and a dead body turns up in the torched ruins of Mallon's warehouse, the publisher must clear his name by conducting an independent inquiry. Mallon is a sympathetic, flawed protagonist, though the solution is too obvious to satisfy those who want mental exercise from their mysteries.(Oct.)"--Publishers weekly

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"Entrepreneur Fritz Marburger persuades Santa Barbara poetry publisher Guy Mallon to publish singer Lorraine Evans’ first novel in hopes of expanding his business. Fritz also rents him a warehouse to store the books, which Guy must share with a crooked vanity publisher. Unfortunately, Lorraine reneges on her offer to publicize the novel, leaving Guy’s business in deep financial trouble—compounded by an arson fire that destroys his warehouse stock, leaving him without any books to sell. The fiasco is further compounded when a body is found in the wreckage, and Guy’s partner, Carol, leaves him as the publisher slides down the slippery slope of lost integrity in an effort to recover his financial losses. Along with stripper Kitty Katz (an employee of the vanity publisher), Guy investigates, hoping to find the murderer and salvage his career. Fast pacing, a strong sense of place, and plenty of -publishing-business details combine with a likable although flawed main character to produce an engrossing read." --Booklist