This image is the cover for the book Doctor, Lawyer . . ., The Lt. Hastings Mysteries

Doctor, Lawyer . . ., The Lt. Hastings Mysteries

Hastings chases a serial killer whose deranged letters hold a city for ransom
The doctor comes through his front door as he always does, a bundle of mail in hand. He’s about to walk up the stairs when the bullet passes through his back, puncturing his heart and leaving him dead in his front hall. By the time Lieutenant Frank Hastings arrives, rigor mortis has set in, and the doctor’s body rolls easily away from the wall. Pinned beneath him is a note that begins, “Doctor, Lawyer, Merchant, Chief . . .” Pay $100,000, writes “the Masked Man,” or a lawyer will be the next to die.
There are too many lawyers in San Francisco to protect them all, and as Hastings and his team hunt for the Masked Man, the city is whipped into a frenzy of fear. As the killer’s demands mount, the homicide department starts to wonder—after the merchant is killed, will the chief of police be next?

Collin Wilcox

Collin Wilcox (1924–1996) was an American author of mystery fiction. Born in Detroit, he set most of his work in San Francisco, beginning with 1967’s The Black Door—a noir thriller starring a crime reporter with extrasensory perception. Under the pen name Carter Wick, he published several standalone mysteries including The Faceless Man (1975) and Dark House, Dark Road (1982), but he found his greatest success under his own name, with the celebrated Frank Hastings series.

Open Road Integrated Media