A private eye is killed. His brother an ex-cop investigates his death. And he discovers a web of corruption within the police department.
Movie star Rita Marlo hires Jack to follow her new boyfriend, a mobster from Cleveland named Nicky the Rose. She suspects him of cheating on her. Things become complicated when Jack saves Nicky's life, and they become uneasy friends.
Jack runs into his childhood friend and war buddy, who is now a down-on-his-luck roller derby star. Since returning home from the war, nothing seems to be going right for Jack's friend, and he's in deep to the mob's loan sharks. Jack puts himself square in the middle of the mob and his long-time friend.
A Congressman hires Jack to find his runaway daughter. She fled to Hollywood with stars in her eyes, and ended up making 'blue movies". The case is eerily similar to one Jack worked ten years ago when he was a police officer. He couldn't save the girl back then, but perhaps this time he can it right.
The promoter of an up and coming rock 'n roll star hires Jack to locate the stolen masters of his next album. When the promoter is murdered, Jack continues the investigation. Meanwhile, Johnny is hopelessly in love with the singer's ex-girl friend.
When Johnny Betts is accused of murdering Billy Ray, Jack sets out to find the real killer and recover the stolen master recordings for his next album. Meanwhile, Johnny is on the run with Billy Ray's ex-girl friend.
Johnny heads into the Barrio for a night of music, drinking and romance. He gets more excitement than he bargained for when he's threatened, framed for murder, and has his car stolen several times. Jack attempts to clear Johnny of murder, and ends up smack dab in the middle of a drug smuggling operation.
When an innocent young Chinese lad is arrested for a robbery and murder in Chinatown, his sister hires Jack to prove his innocence. Working a case in Chinatown again brings back a flood of bad memories for Jack, as he once worked the beat there when he was on the police force.
A man hires Jack to tail his wife and see if she's being unfaithful. Jack runs into another private eye who was hired by the wife to see if her husband was unfaithful. Like Jack, the other private eye was framed and drummed out of the police force, so he became a private investigator. They used to be partners on the police force together.
A black woman hires Jack to find out who has been threatening her and her family for moving into an all-white neighborhood. Jack discovers the real reason she is threatened is because she is active in a civil rights group that has caught the attention of the FBI. Johnny gets a lesson in race relations.
Jack Cleary, Johnny Betts and Dottie are pulled into a web of lies, deceit, infidelity and big money when the Cleary Detective Agency is hired by the owner of Dixon Airlines to follow his unfaithful wife. The trail of surveillance leads to graft, a cover-up, and a lot of dead test pilots.
Jack follows a young aspiring actress for a client, and gets surveillance photos of her in the clutches of a mega movie star. The next day the photos mysteriously appear in a gossip magazine, prompting the young actress to commit suicide. Jack suspects she was murdered, and his investigation uncovers a deep secret held by Paragon Movie Studio.