Dirty Who? by Jerry Kennealy

Rough and Tumble SFPD Inspector Johnny O’Rorke, the department’s Executive Protection Officer, has a new partner, Cosmo the Wonder Dog, a Lakeland terrier his sister has left in his care.

O’Rorke is called to San Francisco City Hall to meet with Film Commissioner Audrey Pebble. Warner Brothers is preparing to film a major motion picture, Dirty Harry, in San Francisco, with Frank Sinatra set for the starring role as Inspector Harry Callahan.

Pebble knows that O’Rorke has worked as a bodyguard for Sinatra. She hired Harly Walker, a local young artist and musician, to scout the city for locations that would appeal to Warner Brothers. Walker has disappeared and Pebble is desperate for O’Rorke to find him.

The hunt takes O’Rorke and Cosmo to the famed Haight Ashbury Medical Clinic and to some of the darkest, most dangerous areas of the city, including porno movie studios, drug dens, bathhouses and hardcore leather bars.

While searching for Walker, O’Rorke learns that several of Harly’s friends have been murdered in such a painful manner that even the medical examiner is shocked.

O’Rorke races to find the killer—and then comes the hard part: Telling Frank Sinatra that he is not right for the role of Dirty Harry.

Award-winning author Jerry Kennealy spent some time with The Big Thrill discussing the second installment of his Johnny O’Rorke series, DIRTY WHO?:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

A feeling of the times and troubles of San Francisco in 1970.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

How much the city has changed in 40 years and how much it has stayed the same.

What authors or books have influenced your career as a writer, and why?

Raymond Chandler, Len Deighton, John Lutz, Robert Randisi and dozens more, all masters of the mystery genre.

*****

Jerry Kennealy has worked as a San Francisco policeman and as a licensed private investigator in the City by the Bay. He has written twenty-two novels, including a series on private eye Nick Polo, two of which were nominated for a Shamus Award. His books have been published in England, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Spain. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America.

He was the recipient of the 2017 Life Achievement Award by the Private Eye Writers of America.

Jerry lives in San Bruno, California, with his wife and in-house editor, Shirley. To learn more, please visit his website.