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Lt. Leroy Powder #1
Night Cover
Lt. Leroy Powder, Indianapolis PD, investigates a series of gruesome murders and the disappearance of a teenage girl
Six burglaries, two assaults, one armed robbery, and a bomb scare all come in at the tail end of Lt. Leroy Powder’s swing shift in the night cover room of the Indianapolis PD—a shift he’s been working for nineteen years. About to wrap up, he gets a call from low-level criminal Johnny Uncle, who claims to have found a body.
The cause of death is strangulation. There’s no sign of sexual assault, no apparent motive, and no form of ID on the corpse—including prints because the killer took a sledgehammer to the victim’s hands postmortem. But Powder’s problems have only begun: This body won’t be the last.
Six burglaries, two assaults, one armed robbery, and a bomb scare all come in at the tail end of Lt. Leroy Powder’s swing shift in the night cover room of the Indianapolis PD—a shift he’s been working for nineteen years. About to wrap up, he gets a call from low-level criminal Johnny Uncle, who claims to have found a body.
The cause of death is strangulation. There’s no sign of sexual assault, no apparent motive, and no form of ID on the corpse—including prints because the killer took a sledgehammer to the victim’s hands postmortem. But Powder’s problems have only begun: This body won’t be the last.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1950
9 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Michael Z. Lewin
72 books10 followersMichael Zinn Lewin is an American writer of mystery fiction perhaps best known for his series about Albert Samson, a distinctly low-keyed, non-hardboiled private detective who plies his trade in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lewin himself grew up in Indianapolis, but after graduating from Harvard and living for a few years in New York City, has lived in England for the last 40 years. Much of his fiction continues to be set in Indianapolis, including a secondary series about Leroy Powder, a policeman who frequently appears in the Samson novels, generally in a semi-confrontational manner.
Another series, however, is set in Bath, England, where Lewin now lives. This features the Lunghis who run their detective agency as a family business. So far there are three novels and nine short stories about them.
Lewin has also written a number of stand-alone novels. Some have been set in Indianapolis and others elsewhere. His latest novel, Confessions of a Discontented Deity, is even set partly in Heaven. A satire, it breaks from Lewin's history of genre fiction.
Lewin is the son of Leonard C. Lewin, author of the 1967 bestselling satire The Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace.
Another series, however, is set in Bath, England, where Lewin now lives. This features the Lunghis who run their detective agency as a family business. So far there are three novels and nine short stories about them.
Lewin has also written a number of stand-alone novels. Some have been set in Indianapolis and others elsewhere. His latest novel, Confessions of a Discontented Deity, is even set partly in Heaven. A satire, it breaks from Lewin's history of genre fiction.
Lewin is the son of Leonard C. Lewin, author of the 1967 bestselling satire The Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 12, 2020
Read in 1977. Hardboiled police procedural.
January 16, 2022
Powder character is great.
June 5, 2010
RATING: 3.25
Want to Read
March 8, 2019Synopsis: Lt. Leroy Powder of the Indianapolis PD investigates a series of gruesome murders and the disappearance of a teenage girl.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews