The long and the short of it is that some Clyde is sending threatening notes to Dean Martin.
Dean is in town (the town being Las Vegas, 1960) with Frank, Sammy, Joey, and Peter to film the original OCEAN'S 11. Concerned for his friend's safety, Ol' Blue Eyes approaches Jack Entratter, the operator of the Sands, for help. Jack puts Frank onto Eddie Gianelli, a former Brooklyn street kid-turned CPA-now-turned pit boss, who knows everybody on The Strip.
As soon as Eddie G. starts asking questions, the bodies start piling up. After he's roughed up by a couple of torpedoes, Eddie starts taking it all very personally, and delves into his investigation with the passion (if not the professionalism) of Hercule Poirot.
Prolific thriller writer Robert J. Randisi has written a humorous and affectionate homage to the Era of the Rat Pack and to the vanished Sin City of the Fifties, where goombahs, celebrities, and everyday people lost fortunes, made fortunes and rubbed shoulders.
Bright and breezy though he is, Randisi is still writing Genre Noir and doesn't shy away from the drugs, hookers and shady deals that made (or make) up the seedy side of Las Vegas, but he doesn't obsess on them either. He is unsparing of the racism of the time: the outrage of some toward Sammy Davis Jr.'s impending marriage to Swedish actress May Britt, the mockery of Davis' Judaism, the disdain shown by white cops to a black detective, and the institutionalized segregation of Vegas are all mentioned in brief and summarily dismissed as ignorant by the diamond-in-the-rough Eddie, who blends with Casino owners, hitmen, showgirls, and The Boys quite comfortably, no matter what.
The Rat Pack and Friends (with cameo appearances by George Raft and then-Senator Jack Kennedy) move sparklingly across these pages. EVERYBODY KILLS SOMEBODY SOMETIME is a great poolside read. Brief, snappy chapters move the story right along. Just about as light and fluffy as a murder mystery can be, EVERYBODY KILLS SOMEBODY SOMETIME drips with ambience and that ring-a-ding-ding good feeling of the time.
The first in a new series, this little novel is a time capsule. Climb in and be transported.