Lieutenant Hastings comes up against Alex Guest, a powerful attorney whose all-consuming ego has driven his daughter's two husbands away, turned her into an alcoholic, and is now trying to steal her son away
Born in Detroit, Michigan, his first book was The Black Door (1967), featuring a sleuth possessing extrasensory perception. His major series of novels was about Lieutenant Frank Hastings of the San Francisco Police Department. Titles in the Hastings series included Hire a Hangman, Dead Aim, Hiding Place, Long Way Down and Stalking Horse. Two of his last books, Full Circle and Find Her a Grave, featured a new hero-sleuth, Alan Bernhardt, an eccentric theater director. Wilcox also published under the pseudonym "Carter Wick".
Wilcox's most famous series-detective was the television character Sam McCloud, a New Mexico deputy solving New York crime. The "urban cowboy" was played by Dennis Weaver in the 1970-1977 TV series McCloud. Wilcox wrote three novelizations based on scripts from the series: McCloud (1973), The New Mexican Connection (1974), and The Park Avenue Executioner (1975).
VICTIMS (Pol Proc-Lt. Frank Hastings-SF,CA-Cont) - VG Wilcox, Collin - 10th in series
No synopsis...
Wilcox writes an excellent police procedural. Set in San Francisco, he creates an excellent sense of place with great characters and very good dialogue. A contemporary of Bill Pronzini, it's a shames his work is not better known.