In classic noir tradition, English Professor Karen Pelletier gains a client when her office door opens and a famous Private Eye novelist enters. The author is dogged by Trouble (a Torrweiler) and by a problem. And since Sunnye Hardcastle (a Patricia Cornwell lookalike) will be a featured speaker in the English Department"s upcoming conference on the murder mystery, Karen is intrigued. The next thing you know, one midnight, someone rushes out of the Enfield Library with an armload of rare books. With a real private eye on the case, the hunt is on-for the manuscript of Hammett"s famous novel, The Maltese Falcon, for the missing books, and for potential murder suspects.