Complications arise when Stanley Hastings handles a blackmail payment involving pornographic pictures. Not only does he fail to stop the blackmailer, but everyone he talks to dies.“Every page quivers with comic frustration and the result is an absolute joy.”—Kirkus (starred)“Parnell Hall succeeds in making Stanley Hastings one of a kind …. BLACKMAIL is pleasantly reminiscent of an earlier era, when detectives like Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin brought some humor to their chores.”—The Wall Street Journal “Here is that rare and highly readable type of novel, the one told mostly in dialogue–and very good dialogue it is, too…. Blackmail is a fun page-turner.”—The Denver Post “Stanley’s cases also have going for them some of the deftest and trickiest puzzle-plotting in the field today.”—Jon L. Breen, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine“The characters are funny, the dialogue sings, and Hall continually confounds the reader’s expectations.”—Sparkle Hayter, Toronto Star