Ned Beaumont is a gambler and loyal friend of Paul Madvig, a political boss in an unnamed American city who is backing a senator in an election. When a young man is found dead, suspicion falls near Madvig, and Ned sets out to learn the truth while gangsters, newspapers and rival politicians press in. The story is told in Hammett's cool, detached style, and it is built around loyalty, corruption and the limits of friendship. Hammett is said to have considered it his best novel.