"The Second Longest Night" was the first of twenty Chester Drum mystery/adventures, one of the greatest tough guy series ever written. Although towards the beginning of this book Drum talks about reading Mike Hammer novels as a nod to the great Mickey Spillane, tough guy Drum is no carbon copy.

Based in Washington D.C., ex-FBI agent Drum runs a small private investigator's office and his cases often stumble over international affairs, diplomats, and Cold War politics. He is also a globe-trotting PI whose adventures seem to take him all over the world, sometimes, although not here, as a CIA proxy.

This is a fast-moving, action-packed story involving his ex-wife's apparent suicide, senators, congressmen, nosy blonde reporters, irresistible vixens, South American diplomats, astronomers, oil barons, and the Red Scare.

It is one terrific hard-edged story that is hard to put down and a great start to the series. Marlowe doesn't try to be overly pulpy. His writing is not filled with too many clever memorable phrases. He just tells a good story and tells it pretty straight.

This is a highly recommended book. ( )