Too Many Winners

PRC's "Michael Shayne" series came to an unsatisfying end with Too Many Winners. This time, flippant private eye Mike Shayne (Hugh Beaumont) hopes to leave crime-solving behind while taking a vacation. His quietude is short-lived when a woman who has information on a gang of racetrack-ticket counterfeiters is murdered. With the help of his secretary Phyllis Hamilton (Trudy Marshall), Shayne ascertains the identity of the killer -- which will come as absolutely no surprise whatsoever to dyed-in-the-wool movie mystery fans. Unlike the four earlier entries in PRC's Shayne series, Too Many Winners lays no claim to being based on an original story by Brett Halliday. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi