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The Rule of Unorthodox Men
Private detective Layfette “Lafe” Doyle wasn’t prepared for the cesspool of crime and corruption he was about to step into when he
was hired to investigate the disappearance of a local prostitute. It’s 1945, and 25st Street—aka Two-Bit Street—is the center of Ogden, Utah’s red light district. The drug dens, pool halls, bars, and brothels are major attractions to war-weary soldiers heading home after the fall of the axis powers in WWII.
Lafe’s search for the missing woman leads him deeper into the city’s underbelly, even as the bodies of murdered and mutilated women—all of them prostitutes—begin turning up in the alleys and backlots along Two-Bit Street. He’s convinced there’s a connection between the killings and his missing person’s investigation, but the cops aren’t interested in listening to his theories. They arrest a man—Titus, a lifelong friend of Lafe’s—on flimsy evidence and begin to build their case.
Lafe is certain Titus is innocent, and that the evidence against him was planted. He’s also certain the police believe they’ve caught the right man, and they want to make sure he’s locked away for the rest of his life. It wouldn’t take much for a jury to find him guilty—a black man accused of murdering a white woman.
Lafe realizes he must find the killer himself, but it isn’t going to be easy.
Not with time running out and a homicidal maniac on the loose. A madman who knows Lafe is hunting him, and is determined to strike first.
was hired to investigate the disappearance of a local prostitute. It’s 1945, and 25st Street—aka Two-Bit Street—is the center of Ogden, Utah’s red light district. The drug dens, pool halls, bars, and brothels are major attractions to war-weary soldiers heading home after the fall of the axis powers in WWII.
Lafe’s search for the missing woman leads him deeper into the city’s underbelly, even as the bodies of murdered and mutilated women—all of them prostitutes—begin turning up in the alleys and backlots along Two-Bit Street. He’s convinced there’s a connection between the killings and his missing person’s investigation, but the cops aren’t interested in listening to his theories. They arrest a man—Titus, a lifelong friend of Lafe’s—on flimsy evidence and begin to build their case.
Lafe is certain Titus is innocent, and that the evidence against him was planted. He’s also certain the police believe they’ve caught the right man, and they want to make sure he’s locked away for the rest of his life. It wouldn’t take much for a jury to find him guilty—a black man accused of murdering a white woman.
Lafe realizes he must find the killer himself, but it isn’t going to be easy.
Not with time running out and a homicidal maniac on the loose. A madman who knows Lafe is hunting him, and is determined to strike first.
281 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 14, 2025
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About the author
Michael Zimmer
24 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 11, 2025
I grew up in Northern Utah and went to Ogden from time to time. Just an hour or so from where the Golden Spike was driven in the 1800s, creating the first trans-continental railroad, Ogden became a hub for the industry and Ogden spang up from those roots rather than being settled by Mormon pioneers like most other Utah cities and towns.
This history gave Ogden a real edgy feel. Even in the 1970s, it was home to the notorious Hi-Fi Shop murders, where the victims were forced to drink Drano. I remember driving down Washington Blvd, the city's main street, and all old buildings and warehouses. Wall Ave seemed even more seedy. Ogden became a place that I didn't like to visit.
Today, it's different. 25th Street is alive with new shops and restaurants. When my wife and I went to the Ren Faire in the area earlier this year, we stopped on 25th Street afterwards and found a wonderful restaurant in what's become a very trendy area of the city. We said next time we were in the area, we'd stop for a bite again.
The 25th Street, or Two-Bit Street as he often calls it, Michael Zimmer has built in The Rule of Unorthodox Men is closer to how I remember the area of the 70s. Gritty, rundown, crime-ridden. But in the mid-1940s setting, it's even more so.
Lafe Doyle is hired to find out what happened to a missing call girl and he thinks it related to the violent death of others. He meets a great cast of heavies and outcasts. But he's a better man than many, not caring about racial issues that were rampant just after World War II. He even falls for a Japanese woman.
I found the book very engaging, and having some knowledge of the area, kept picturing where things were happening, albeit, in today's Ogden. It was fun to learn some of the history of the area.
But I felt making the story being Lafe's recorded memory decades later to pull me out of the real happenings of 1945. Taking out the parts about Lafe of the future would have tightened things up. The ending also seemed to spring from nowhere, rushed, and not quite satisfying as one of the mysteries is never solved.
Still, it's a solid, wonderful read. I look forward to more adventures there with Lafe.
This history gave Ogden a real edgy feel. Even in the 1970s, it was home to the notorious Hi-Fi Shop murders, where the victims were forced to drink Drano. I remember driving down Washington Blvd, the city's main street, and all old buildings and warehouses. Wall Ave seemed even more seedy. Ogden became a place that I didn't like to visit.
Today, it's different. 25th Street is alive with new shops and restaurants. When my wife and I went to the Ren Faire in the area earlier this year, we stopped on 25th Street afterwards and found a wonderful restaurant in what's become a very trendy area of the city. We said next time we were in the area, we'd stop for a bite again.
The 25th Street, or Two-Bit Street as he often calls it, Michael Zimmer has built in The Rule of Unorthodox Men is closer to how I remember the area of the 70s. Gritty, rundown, crime-ridden. But in the mid-1940s setting, it's even more so.
Lafe Doyle is hired to find out what happened to a missing call girl and he thinks it related to the violent death of others. He meets a great cast of heavies and outcasts. But he's a better man than many, not caring about racial issues that were rampant just after World War II. He even falls for a Japanese woman.
I found the book very engaging, and having some knowledge of the area, kept picturing where things were happening, albeit, in today's Ogden. It was fun to learn some of the history of the area.
But I felt making the story being Lafe's recorded memory decades later to pull me out of the real happenings of 1945. Taking out the parts about Lafe of the future would have tightened things up. The ending also seemed to spring from nowhere, rushed, and not quite satisfying as one of the mysteries is never solved.
Still, it's a solid, wonderful read. I look forward to more adventures there with Lafe.
Displaying 1 of 1 review