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Jacob Asch Mystery #6
Hard trade
Mystery
- GenresMystery
253 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1981
20 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Lyons
56 books7 followersA member of the Palm Springs City Council from 1992-1995. Authored 21 books and numerous mystery novels. His 1986 novel "Castles Burning," which took place in Palm Springs, furnished the basis for the telemovie "Slow Burn" with Johnny Depp. Author of "Death on the Cheap -- The Lost B Movies of Film Noir.".
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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September 14, 2020i like the militant feminist housekeeper who calls jacob asch a scumbag fascist every chance she gets!
March 2, 2025
This s was a well-constructed story with vivid characters, if a tad dated socially. Actually a very good mystery, though credulity was stretched a bit, especially regarding the flawed governor. But Lyons really knows how to build a story, and this one worked well for me.
June 19, 2020
With political corruption, kinky sex and multiple murders, Jacob Asch has his plenty of digging and finding folks. This is a very good private eye series, that started in the mid 70's.
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August 7, 2025Synopsis: Jacob Asch, a private eye, works through politics and murder - it had appeared to to be a run-of-the-mill domestic case.
October 30, 2022
Jacob Asch is a Los Angeles-based private investigator who was previously a reporter who had been sent to jail after refusing to reveal a source.
He is the type of PI who gets the job done through dogged determination and a complete unwillingness to give up.
But he has a keen and witty delivery, as can be seen by the terse description of the woman who has hired him for a surveillance job:
In a nasty turn of events, the woman who hires him to do the surveillance job is killed right in front of him. This comes hard on the heels of him finding out that the prospective fiance was in a gay relationship.
What soon becomes apparent is the woman was using Asch to dig up some dirt on the man. It prompts him to continue to follow what would have been the case and uncover what appears to be some dodgy dealing in a real-estate development deal.
As ever happens when a determined detective starts kicking over rocks, the lowlifes start slithering out and this makes things dangerous for Asch. When it all becomes political it also all becomes life-threatening.
This is a well-paced detective story that methodically unpicks the lies and deceits of a rich and powerful collection of men. Asch tends to walk into dangerous situations, sometimes without planning too far ahead and the results can be all too predictable.
Fans of old-style hardboiled detective stories will enjoy the way in which Asch works his way through this case. Deceptive when he needs to winkle out information and balls to the wall when he needs to take action, he is a PI to be admired.
Hard Trade is a rewarding detective novel that rewards the reader with a well woven and intriguing story.
He is the type of PI who gets the job done through dogged determination and a complete unwillingness to give up.
But he has a keen and witty delivery, as can be seen by the terse description of the woman who has hired him for a surveillance job:
“Marlowe and Spade could keep the breathless blondes, I thought. They were nothing but trouble anyway. I’d take the Munchkins any day. There were no legs to get distracted by and I didn’t have to wait for the check to clear.”
In a nasty turn of events, the woman who hires him to do the surveillance job is killed right in front of him. This comes hard on the heels of him finding out that the prospective fiance was in a gay relationship.
What soon becomes apparent is the woman was using Asch to dig up some dirt on the man. It prompts him to continue to follow what would have been the case and uncover what appears to be some dodgy dealing in a real-estate development deal.
As ever happens when a determined detective starts kicking over rocks, the lowlifes start slithering out and this makes things dangerous for Asch. When it all becomes political it also all becomes life-threatening.
This is a well-paced detective story that methodically unpicks the lies and deceits of a rich and powerful collection of men. Asch tends to walk into dangerous situations, sometimes without planning too far ahead and the results can be all too predictable.
Fans of old-style hardboiled detective stories will enjoy the way in which Asch works his way through this case. Deceptive when he needs to winkle out information and balls to the wall when he needs to take action, he is a PI to be admired.
Hard Trade is a rewarding detective novel that rewards the reader with a well woven and intriguing story.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews