The Jimmy Flannery series is a more, modern version of a classic detective story. But, instead of a private eye in a misfitting fedora in an office the size of a coat closet, you have a politician in machine politics Chicago, the land of favor for favor and not rocking the boat. Flannery is known as a junkyard dog that just won't let go once he sinks his teeth into something and he won't let sleeping dogs lie either. He got into politics expecting to help out his neighbors and never expecting the cesspool that it is.

This mystery series takes the reader into the old ethnic neighborhoods of Chicago and the bars and the back rooms where all the deals are made.

But, particularly here, late in the series, the world has changed. The neighborhoods have changed. The Graft and the favors are no longer socially acceptable. And the old elephants are dying out and the young turks are being groomed for political positions. Told with a great wry sense of humor and in Flannery's Irish narration, above all, it's really a terrific story, tying in murder, call girls, and back room politics.
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