A Bewilderment of Crooks — John Paxton Sheriff

Private Eye Jack Scott gets a new case. On a rainy night in a Liverpool suburb, glass shatters as a thief breaks into a private garage, steals the stereo from a Mercedes, and makes his escape. When a neighbor runs out to apprehend the thief, he is stabbed to death. A random killing, or so private eye Jack Scott believes before he interviews the dead man's widow. Further investigation links the Mercedes to a Toxteth carjacking and suddenly Scott is presented with a number of questions. Why would a man have a luxury car stolen to order and then disappear? Why is Tommy Mack lying about his bloodstained T-shirt? And what has this got to do with a murder on board a yacht in Conway harbour? It will all end in a bewilderment of desperate crooks.