Maxwell Street Blues

Grabbing snapshots of cheating spouses and hunting down bail jumpers provides a comfortable living for Jules Landau—until his estranged father knocks on the door. Second-rate con man Bernie Landau reports Jules's beloved "Uncle Snook" has taken five bullets in the head.  The newspapers dismiss the victim as another bean counter for the mob caught skimming off the top. But Jules isn't buying it. Sure, his uncle's accounting practice included shady characters, but the wise-guys loved Snooky and not just for his money-laundering skills. With Snooky you had a devoted friend—a regular hoodlum's therapist. From the start, Bernie criticizes his son's brash approach to the investigation. But despite their conflicts, father and son uncover Snooky's entanglements in a convoluted world of crooked politics, corrupt police, and drug trafficking. And those who stand to benefit from Snooky's death reads like a Who's Who of the Chicago power elite.