Robert Wade and Bill Miller were childhood pals who wrote under a couple of psuedonyms including Wade Miller (a conglomeration of their last names), Whit Masterson, and Will Daemer. They wrote something on the order of thirty novels together, beginning with 1946’s novel, “Deadly Weapon.”

It is a terrific hardboiled detective story, easy to read, and written in a terse, clipped manner without any fancy, extraneous descriptions. It takes place, as did many of the Wade Miller books, in San Diego.
Walter James is an Atlanta detective. He ends up in San Diego after his partner is gunned down. The partner’s wife had been in Miami, but she disappeared without a trace. James’ partner had been investigating something, first in Denver, and then in San Diego, something linked to marijuana.
Acting on a tip, James heads to San Diego, but before he can speak with his connection, that man too is gunned down in the middle of a crowded theater with hundreds of witnesses present, none of whom ever saw the stabber. It's a burlesque striptease theater featuring the headline act of Shasts Lynn. James makes pals with the local police and with a girl who had been present herself in the theater next to the deceased contact, Laura Gilbert. James is no dummy. This is a good, old-fashioned postwar mystery and certainly established the writing duo of Wade Miller as force to be reckoned with. ( )