Vera Caspary, the famed author of Laura, gives us another gripping crime drama, told through shifting points of view. John Ansell, young and idealistic editor of Truth and Crime magazine, wants to breathe new life into the stale and formulaic publication. Instead of rehashing a story that's already been proven popular elsewhere, he finds a fresh one: the murder of Warren G. Wilson, famed figurehead of a correspondence course. The murder itself isn't too remarkable-just a bullet in the back-but the victim is another case, as it becomes apparent that despite having a household name, nothing is known about him. Perhaps even more peculiar is how Ansell's boss absolutely refuses to run the story and, soon thereafter, Ansell is poisoned.

Vera Caspary was the prolific author of over 50 novels, plays, and screenplays. Born in 1899 in Chicago, Caspary came into young adulthood during the Roaring Twenties, the spirit of which had a profound effect on her career and writing--her work often featuring independent women and their struggles with identity. She is perhaps best known for her novel Laura, which was adapted into an immensely popular 1944 film that is esteemed as one of the greatest examples of film noir.