Great to see the reissue of one of the seminal works of American crime fiction. First published in the early Seventies, Dunne's novel is about corruption in high places, the Church, the law, the police force, government. Set in Los Angeles in the Forties and based loosely on the notorious Black Dahlia killing - James Ellroy has also written about this in more recent times - it is the story of two men, one a priest, the other a detective in the LAPD. They are the Spellacy brothers, Monsignor Des and Homicide Lieutenant Tom, one venal and ambitious, the other basically honest but cynical in the extreme. Around them is woven a web of intrigue involving the murder of "The Virgin Tramp", as she becomes known. The book gave rise to a marvellous film starring Robert de Niro and Robert Duval as the rival brothers, with a scene-stealing vignette from Cyril Cusack as a devious Archbishop. Now that the book has been reissued, it would be nice to see the movie again also.