Private detective Walter James is on the hunt for a murderer, seeking revenge for the brutal slaying of his partner. While following a lead he finds himself embroiled in another murder, this time, a ticket-taker at a theater who is knifed without a witness in a packed house. In a confidential sequence of events the two murders become linked with Walter James right in the thick of the action.
The murder mystery at the forefront of the post war era pulp surrounds the ticket-taker and his later discovered involvement in drug trafficking as the investigation steadily ties threads together to form a patch-work of crime far more complex than what was advertised.
The dialogue is a little dated but you know what you're getting into with pulp era detective books so its excusable and should be enjoyed for what it is. There's also the over-the-top love interest Kevin who falls for Walter James in record time, declaring herself his after a day or two of meeting our slim leading man, but the character plays the part of the breathless damsel in distress to perfection, credit to Wade Miller.
The biggest selling point for Deadly Weapon is the twist which smacks the reader in the face and, to me at least, was completely out of left field - I didn't see it coming and the book is far better read for it.
My rating: 3.5/5 stars, another pulp worth picking up.
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