It's April 1949 in Eda City and former detective, Phillip Bartlow, has big plans for a new career. In this prequel to The Maltese Mystery Meatloaf and Other Tales, Bartlow's first case as a culinary private investigator gets him entangled in a web of murder, intrigue, political corruption and conspiracy.
Korean War veteran Kip Jory was determined to follow his dream. But it may have been a mistake. Directly after his military discharge from the Navy Kip used his G.I. education benefits to study acting and film making. Several years later he finds himself hopelessly stuck in Philadelphia using his photographic skills to eke out a living as a Private Investigator for sleazy divorce attorneys. Kip's chance to turn his life around comes about the day a woman of means hires him to search for her missing father; a potentially decade old crime which the police consider a cold case. This search for the truth behind this blind alley pursuit is cross-stitched with backstories concerning the lives of a once famous stage and screen actor, a number of members of various organized criminal organizations and two women of different generations. It's from these two women that Kip learns the meaning of love and commitment. Being a Robert Oster novel, The Contractor is peppered with humor, satire and a mix of real and fake quotations and fictional historical events.
Adam Danzig, hoping to attract investors for his fledgling Aircraft Company, has entered his experimental plane in the speed competition at The 1931 Utica Air Show & Aeronautics Exposition. Utica, a small city in upstate New York, had earned the nickname "Sin City" during the Prohibition Era. Adam's innovative aircraft, the X-3, has attracted the attention of a foreign operative and others on the scene. What could go wrong?
Seventeen year old Benjamin Harris's mother vanishes the very same night as nightclub singer Kitty Kenyon. The police are certain that this is merely a coincidence because war widow Maxine Harris had been a department store sales clerk and devoted single mother. Although the authorities eventually deem this highly publicized tragedy a "cold case" Ben refuses to believe that his mother simply vanished into thin air. His obsession with finding the truth becomes the driving force influencing his decision to become a New York City Police Department Detective. Lt. Alvin Pine, Ben's commanding officer and life-long bachelor, marries sophisticated stage actress Brenda Lofton. Brenda takes a keen maternal interest in Ben's personal and professional life, especially his romance with Phyllis Garner, the "girl next door" who Ben hadn't seen since the time he became orphaned. Lt. Pine and Ben's partner Jerry Osgood lend their assistance in uncovering the facts behind Maxine Harris's secret life but become entangled with an international criminal organization that may have had a hand in promoting Brenda Lofton's career. Does Brenda possess information about Maxine's disappearance?
Three years passed since Gavin Chase had been an Army Air Force pilot dropping bombs on German industrial sites and dodging antiaircraft fire. And three years had elapsed since his heart was broken by a love affair gone wrong. Quite content to live a lonely bachelor's humdrum life he becomes the last target of a fiendish plot to terrorize Cedar City. It all happened one fine Spring day as Gavin was returning from his lunch hour; back to his gray, boring but secure insurance company job. Two of Gavin's law enforcement friends enlist his assistance to find the person or persons behind the random assaults on the City's residents. Gavin's search for truth and justice leads to some serendipitous events which causes him to shed the cocoon of loneliness he had spun around himself since the War ended. An exciting new career, a new attitude and a new romance are now within reach. Gavin's journey is told with heaping doses of humor, wry satirical comic events and a cast of interesting characters.
Seventeen year old Benjamin Harris's mother vanishes the very same night as nightclub singer Kitty Kenyon. Is this a coincidence? After all, Maxine Harris was a hard working sales clerk, war widow and single mother. Law enforcement authorities deem this highly publicized tragedy "a cold case" but Ben refuses to accept his mother merely vanished into thin air. His obsession with finding the truth becomes the driving force influencing his choice to become a New York City detective. Shortly after Ben's supervisor and mentor, Lt. Alvin Pine and life-long bachelor marries sophisticated stage actress, Brenda Lofton, Ben falls in love with a woman who had been "the girl next door" when he was growing up. While Ben's partner Jerry and Lt. Pine, lend their assistance in uncovering the facts behind Maxine Harris's secret life they unwittingly become entangled with an international criminal organization that may have had a hand in promoting Brenda Lofton's career. Brenda seems to take a strong maternal interest in Ben's personal and professional life. Does she possess information about Maxine Harris's disappearance?
