THE CROOKED ROAD

Richard Ashley, a newspaperman, working on a story to indict the Duke of Orgagna, an unscrupulous but untouchable figure, is not only mismatched but outnumbered as he attempts to break him through a politico-financial scandal. Only Cosima, whom Ashley had once loved and who is now Orgagna's wife, proves more loyal than he might have suspected; his mistress too proves vulnerable after the killing of her brother- an informer- which Orgagna arranges but imputes to Ashley. With revealing photostats in his possession, Ashley is an easy victim- and dupe, until a sullen servant's loyalties are converted to hatred and he accomplishes what Ashley had failed to do..... In spite of the setting, in and around Naples, no fine Italian hand here -- it's a fervid sort of intrigue which will also double in the mystery market.