In this first case (of five), a world-renowned Washington museum is being blackmailed. A valuable African brass shield has been stolen, and St. Ives is supposed to deliver the ransom. But nothing is as it seems, and before St. Ives knows it, several people are dead. This is the first volume of the Philip St. Ives series in the Ross Thomas edition. Ross Thomas published this novel under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck. The title of the German first edition is "Bonbons aus Blei" (1970). Philip St. Ives - a talented but unemployed reporter in New York - is the poker-playing dandy among Ross Thomas' cool heroes and professional intermediary. For a hefty commission, he mediates between the underworld and its extorted victims, finding himself caught in the crossfire. Diligence, thrift, and courage - character traits that I somehow lost over the years.