Here is a fast moving, tough minded mystery for everybody who has ever thrilled to the sound of lire engines screaming down a busy street. The hero is Ben Pedley, Fire Marshal of New York City; the problem, a fire set in a radio star’s dressing room which kills the star’s brother and leads to at least one other killing by fire. Luscious Leila is worth her weight in money and publicity value, and Ben finds himself confronted by radio-and-advertising pressure as well as a singularly brainy murderer.
But Ben doesn’t take kindly to pressure and he hates arson with every fibre in his body. So he lashes out against it — with force and good aim — and the story moves rapidly from one high spot to the next, winding up with a climax that has all the excitement of a three-alarm fire next door.