Crang Plays the Ace: A Mystery - Hardcover

Batten, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0771593392 ISBN 13: 9780771593390

Publisher: Gage Distribution Co, 1987

Synopsis

Cause a "poker face" ain't just a song by Lady Gaga.

Crang is a criminal lawyer. He loves jazz, old movies, Polish vodka, his Volkswagen convertible, and his girlfriend Annie, not necessarily in that order. A wise-cracking WASP with a moral code that owes little to the Law Society of Upper Canada, Crang is equally quick with his lip and fists, but he can tell a fish fork from a pair of brass knuckles when he has to.

The clients who come to Crang's second-floor walk-up office on Toronto's Queen Street strip--street punks, two bit robbers, and small-time scam artists--are usually guilty. Crang likes it that way. Mostly he gets them off and they're grateful.

So when Matthew Wansborough, wealthy financier and scion of a fine old family, comes to Crang with the novel problem that his $300,000 investment in Ace Disposal Services is too profitable, Crang is puzzled.

Wansborough isn't Crang's usual kind of client and Ace isn't Wansborough's usual kind of blue-chip operation.

Crang's unorthodox investigation of Ace reveals that it's a dirty player in a dirty business, run by men who oil the wheels of commerce with kickbacks, fraud, muscle--and murder.

Mystery and comedy mix in this entertaining novel, written with the in-depth knowledge of the legal scene and the easygoing style that have made bestsellers of Batten's previous books. Once readers have made the acquaintance of Crang, they will be eager to read of his future cases in what promises to be a long and successful series.

About this title

About the Author

Jack Batten, after a brief and unhappy career as a lawyer, has been a very happy Toronto freelance writer for many years. He has written thirtyfive books including four crime novels featuring Crang, the unorthodox criminal lawyer who has a bad habit of stumbling on murders that need his personal attention. Batten reviewed jaz for The Globe and Mail for several years, reviewed movies on CBC Radio for twenty-five-years, and now reviews crime novels for The Toronto Star. Not Surprisingly, jazz, movies and crime turn up frequently in Crang's life.

Edition details

• Publisher: Gage Distribution Co
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0771593392
• ISBN 13: 9780771593390
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 266