Pick Up A Pulp [84]: BIRD IN A GUILT-EDGED CAGE by Carter Brown

    "I need help," she said. "Badly. I need the help of a man like you, Senor Kane. A man who knows Hong Kong well, a man of action with not too many scruples." 

Andy Kane is a Hong Kong private investigator (probably more akin to a smuggler than P.I...) who typically deals in matters involving the recovery (often dangerous and unlawful recovery, that is) of expensive and rare artefacts for the savoury and unsavoury alike. 

In Bird in a Guilt-Edged Cage (1963), the follow-up to the first Andy Kane novel, Hong Kong Caper (1962), Kane and his co-detective Tess are accosted by the attractive and mysterious Carmen Diez to recover a family heirloom from the wealthy and seemingly shady businessman Mr. Mao. Under great sufferance, (after all having a scantly clad gorgeous babe throw herself at you with the promise of a big payday and herself as a sweetner isn't at all appealing to the womanising Kane!), Kane agrees to visit Mr. Mao at his heavily guarded compound to retrieve the 'Eagle of the Sun'. 

However, as per the formulaic nature of the Carter Brown mysteries, there's much more to the story and before long, Kane and Tess are wading their way through Hong Kong's backwaters on a junk boat, dodging bullets, army personnel, and hired guns - not to mention a second Carmel Diez with claims to the Eagle of the Sun! 

Like its predecessor Hong Kong Caper, Bird in a Guilt-Edged Cage is full of action; think back to those men's adventure novels where the hero always comes out on top and the women are always too quick to shed their clothes to prove how grateful they are to said hero. Whilst there's a healthy dose of that here, Bird in a Guilt-Edged Cage makes for entertaining reading with three distinct story arcs all tied together by some nice plot devices which certainly kept this reader on his toes, making for a more meaty and complex story compared to the run-of-the-mill pulps Carter Brown typically churned out in his prime publishing days.

Side note: Whilst Bird in a Guilt-Edged Cage can be read as a standalone I recommend checking out Hong Kong Caper first; it adds context and backstory to Kane and Tess - more of a bonus than essential reading.