The Black Noel by Logan Black

It's December, 1944 and L.A. detective Danny Diamond is the hero of the hour. After solving the heinous Black Noel Murder, he and his partner, Eddie Valentino, are invited to a Christmas party at a powerful judge's home to celebrate their triumph of law and order. It would be wonderful if it wasn't all a sham. Diamond attends begrudgingly, still upset about the course of the case. The only bright point of the evening is the judge's wife. She alone seems to see through the political charade. She's young, blonde, and oh-so-willing, a surefire recipe for trouble. But can the detective control his anger and his libido when his career is on the line? Of course not. This is Danny Diamond we're talking about. "The Black Noel" is a novelette-length work of approximately 10,000 words. The events depicted were alluded to in the first Danny Diamond mystery novel, The Money Shot.