From Publishers Weekly
In his fifth adventure ( Detective ; Murder ; etc.) New York private eye Stanley Hastings is still working for a sleazy lawyer, who generally sends him out to take depositions from "victims" in accident cases. Then Stanley finally gets a real client: Marvin Nickleson isn't likable, and tailing his estranged wife Monica isn't at all appealing, but Stanley--a would-be action-writer with a wife, a small child and a big dental bill--needs the money. Surveillance is uneventful until Monica drives out of town and checks into a motel near Poughkeepsie. The next morning, she's dead--though she isn't really Monica, the real Marvin isn't Stanley's client and Stanley is the chief murder suspect. The only clues are the first three letters of a license plate and a man in a checked cap, which eventually lead the detective to a land-zoning bribery scam. The ending is a bit pallid, and Stanley talks too much, but he's an appealing character nonetheless. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
That likable accident-scene photographer and private investigator Stanley Hastings returns, inept as ever, as he tails a client's estranged wife. He follows the woman to a remote motel, falls asleep on surveillance, and wakes to find himself framed for her murder. As if that isn't enough, the murdered woman turns out to be someone else; Stanley's client duped him. With characteristic short, swift-moving sentences and low-key, wry humor ( Strangler , LJ 5/1/89; Favor , LJ 9/1/88), Hall moves his bumbling protagonist toward the truth. Continued high quality.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
"What's wrong with me?" is the thought that crosses Stanley Hastings's mind when he gets his first paying client. Stanley has absolutely no interest in being a P.I., but hey, he needs to pay the bills. The novice P.I.'s first victim . um . client is Marvin Nickleson, an ex-husband on the rampage. Stanley's first job seems easy-just get a picture of Nickleson's ex-wife with another man-until . well . he finds her DEAD AS A DOORNAIL. The murder weapon? In Stanley's car, of course. Stanley's second case is to save his own hide. What will this aspiring-writer-turned-detective do?