Blow-Down — Lawrence G. Blochman

“Death, destruction, and international intrigue on a Caribbean banana plantation. First-rate plot, pace, and background” from the Golden Age mystery author (Time).
 
It doesn't take long for a man of Walter Lane's skills to find a job at a Latin American banana port. But little do his new employers know that Walter has another agenda: discovering who murdered the former State Department secret agent previously stationed there. The accepted cause of death is blackwater fever, but Walter knows that arsenic poisoning is to blame.
 
Before long, Walter finds himself in the middle of a feud between American banana growers and German coffee men -- one that escalates when someone takes a pot-shot at Walter and the company's influential representative is assassinated. And Walter has yet to determine if the beguiling secretary Muriel Monroe is a dependable ally or cunning foe. With many suspects afoot, Walter must peel away the layers of deception to find a killer, before he finds himself rotting in jail -- or six feet under . . .
 
“Written in a rapid-fire, wise-cracking style that is a joy to read.” -- The Irish Times