First book in two-time Shamus Award nominee Richard Helms' new Eamon Gold PI series, set in modern-day San Francisco. Noted trial attorney Taylor Chu has been brutally murdered and dropped at the base of the Bay Bridge. The local media are filled with graphic accounts of his death. How, then, can he also be sitting in private investigator Eamon Gold's office near Hyde Pier, sipping Gold's Glenlivet single malt? As Gold investigates this puzzle, he will encounter ambitious Homeland Security agents, tong overlords, Marin County pornographers, unscrupulous attorneys, and an attempt to ignite a gang war in San Francisco's Chinatown Two-time Shamus Award Nominee (Juicy Watusi, Wet Debt) Richard Helms pulls out all the stops in this hard-hitting, knuckles-and-know-how debut of his exciting new Eamon Gold series, GRASS SANDAL "If the first chapter of Grass Sandal doesn't hook you, give up reading mysteries. Highly recommended " Jeremiah Healy, Shamus Award Winner, author of SPIRAL, and THE ONLY GOOD LAWYER "Eamon Gold is clearly the rightful heir to the sacred territory of Sam Spade. More twists and turns than Lombard Street. Richard Helms delivers some of the smartest dialogue in the genre " William Kent Krueger, Anthony Award Winner, author of BLOOD HOLLOW "Both the initial entry and CORDITE WINE (September 2005) offer a return to classic "dick lit" (i.e. private eye fiction) in a classic location." Publishers Weekly Authors on the Ascendent November 22, 2004