The Hanging Heiress -- Richard Wormser

Having recently read Richard Wormser's memoir, I really wanted to like this book. And I did, but not as much as I'd hoped. Maybe I was expecting too much, or maybe I was just hoping that it would be in the same style as Wormser's Gold Medal novels. It wasn't, though it does involve a p.i., Marty Cockren, who's hired as a bodyguard for the titular (no pun intended) heiress (the hanging pun in the title is definitely intended, and you'll have to read the book if you want to know about it). The lady in question has just received a huge inheritance, and she wants to live to enjoy it. There are many people who would profit if she doesn't, which is why she hires Cockren, a failed newspaper reporter who turns out to be a lot better at his new job than he was at his old one, or at least his smart mouth doesn't get him in quite as much trouble. Good characters, not a bad plot. Just not quite up to expectations.