Smoked Out is the first installment of the short-lived Digger series, Destroyer author Warren Murphy's contribution to the hard-boiled detective genre. The series is named after Julian "Digger" Burroughs, an impulsively sarcastic and slightly alcoholic insurance claim investigator based out of Las Vegas, where he shares an apartment with his live-in lover/call-girl friend Koko (it's complicated). Armed with a cassette recorder, an acerbic wit, and - whenever possible - a Finlandia vodka, Digger manages to seduce half of the women he meets, annoy the rest of everybody else, and in the process occasionally solve a murder.

In Smoked Out, Digger finds himself in the Hollywood hills looking into the accidental death (attached to a million-dollar life insurance policy) of a wealthy doctor's wife on the off chance it wasn't an accident. All-in-all, Murphy delivers a fairly standard private-eye whodunit, with plenty twists and humor, most of which hit their designated targets. The only aspect of Digger's debut that doesn't work is the title Smoked Out, which - unless I'm missing something - has little if anything to do with the events that take place in the book. Smoked Out doesn't offer anything new to the genre, but it definitely delivers on everything the genre promises, and is a worthy addition to the genre as a whole. Did I say 'genre' enough for you? You're welcome. ( )