Lanagan, Amateur Detective

Jack Lanagan is the newspaper’s star police reporter, a man who knows the back‑alley whispers of San Francisco’s precincts as well as the headlines that land on his desk. His friendships with detectives, judges and even the city’s shadier characters give him a unique window into crimes that the official reports miss. When a mysterious “moll” turns up in a police court case, Lanagan’s curiosity and his knack for coaxing secrets pull him into a tangled web of corruption and danger.

The story follows Lanagan as he trades witty banter for information in smoky backrooms, balances his duty to the paper with the pull of the city’s underbelly, and begins to piece together clues that point to something far larger than a simple scandal. His keen eye and streetwise charm make him the perfect amateur sleuth, navigating a world where every ally might also be a suspect.