Carroll John Daly 
Devil Cat [EPUB ebook] 
Race Williams #5 (Black Mask)

Hard-boiled detective Race Williams investigates the strangest murder of his career. Another classic from the pages of Black Mask Magazine. Story #5 in the Race Williams series.
Carroll John Daly (1889–1958) was the creator of the first hard-boiled private eye story, predating Dashiell Hammett’s first Continental Op story by several months. Daly’s classic character, Race Williams, was one of the most popular fiction characters of the pulps, and the direct inspiration for Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.