Snake Oil

Wealthy and unlikable real-estate developer George Amptman hires Saxon to determine whether his young wife, Nanette, is having an affair. Saxon hates domestic cases, but the client seems so pathetic—and offers so much money—that Saxon agrees. And when her lover, a petroleum engineer, is found strangled with a silk scarf, Saxon finds himself hip-deep in the oil business.
Saxon’s nemesis, Lieutenant Joe Di Mattia of the LAPD, thinks Nanette Amptman murdered her lover. But there’s no shortage The crusty old wildcatter who’s made and lost fortunes. The mysterious East Indian with a nasty pet cobra. The powerful oil baron who fired the victim because of his womanizing. And the exquisite movie actress more famous for her private performances than her on-screen ones. And there’s no shortage of motives, either—thirty-two million of them, all with dollar signs.

Saxon ranges up and own the oil-rich beach areas of Los Angeles’s South Bay, facing a second murder, an attempt on his own life, and a wrenching examination of his own courage. A tender love affair with a strong, independent woman brightens his life, and his teenaged adopted son, Marvel, provides some much-needed moral support when the going gets toughest.