Gangsters have seized control of 1947 Los Angeles spreading violence, intimidation and murder; from nightclubs and boxing matches to organizing unions in the movies. Police and politicians are on their payroll; prostitution, illegal drugs and gambling rampant. Matt Thornton P.I. forms an unofficial gangster squad to prevent the takeover of a girlfriend’s strip club in San Pedro, another friend’s saloon in the heart of L.A. and a western movie studio in Simi Valley. He’s also hired to investigate a suspicious jewelry theft from a wealthy oil executive in Palos Verdes. All leads point to a body in the Arizona desert, a connection to Hollywood celebrities and Margo Powers, “The Blonde with Ice-Blue Eyes” is an engaging, tightly written mystery that could’ve come off the typewriter of Raymond Chandler… a welcomed return to those wonderful hard-boiled detective novels published during crime fiction’s golden age…”— "Post-war L.A. shows some leg in this tough-guy tale… More grit and lust than the seedy side of Venice Beach."— “A rip-roaring gangster vs. good, tough guy novel set in the late 1940s. A detective with all the right connections and a damsel (or six) in distress… This one’s a keeper!”— handles the trouble thrust before him—thugs, mob takeovers, blackmail schemes, and kidnappings—with a dexterity and fearlessness that is marvelous.-- , David Thompson gets Los Angeles, its people, and the tough-guy lingo of the 1940s pitch perfect…”— “… a talent for good story-telling, which means the ability to formulate characters who grab the imagination. This traditional private eye novel is a truly classic gem…”— is a hard-boiled walk back in time to vintage Hollywood”— "… good old-fashioned fun. You can almost smell the action and taste the whiskey wafting off the pages."—