TAXI! TAXI! [The Women of WWII Mysteries] by Clarence Budington Kelland

Her brother went to World War II to fight for his country—she stayed home to fight for his business. She was her brother's keeper...

“A writer of distinction.” —The Detroit News

When Maggie McTigg's brother Michael went off to fight in World War II, he left his taxicab company in her hands, as the only member of the family with a lick of business sense, he asked her to keep it running while he was gone.

Maggie took it as a sacred trust, her own contribution to the war efforts, and resolved that it would still be operating when the conflict was over, he was finally was demobbed and returned home—no matter what it took and what she had to do.

Since most men were off fighting, she hired women drivers to fill their slots, and when she found out how the drunken men acted when they were picked up after hours, Maggie hired the toughest women she could find to drive—and that settled the late-night male passengers down more than a bit.

When the rival cab company, run by mobsters, started sabotaging her brother's taxies, Maggie fought fire with fire, and the rival's cabs were out of commission for days.

But when a man was gunned down just outside her office over "more than five and less than ten millions," Maggie wonders if at last she might be getting in over her head—just how far will a woman go to keep her soldier brother's heritage alive for him until a war is over?

Meet Maggie McTigg, an outspoken, zany, endearing and fearless woman, and a classic Kelland heroine.

...And, of course, a typical cast of offbeat Kelland characters:

• Dougall Maibe, who kept turning up at Maggie's with sandwiches and coffee after every disturbing event; but was he there because he caused the events? Was he trying to stop them—or was he just fascinated by Maggie?
• Toots, Maggie's best friend and self-elected bodyguard of pugilistic ambitions, who could lift a filled steamer trunk with one arm and yearned to change the fact that throughout history "menfolks had hogged all the slugging."
• Sime McCarthy, hoodlum on the rise, who had an interest in every illicit activity in town and an eye on taking over the mob. Sime wasn't beneath solving his problems with guns—not even when the problem was a woman.
• The mysterious passenger, identity unknown, who left behind a briefcase containing a Gideon Bible, a clipping from a New York newspaper, a photograph of a scantily-dressed woman, a 32-caliber automatic—and a clue to the location of loot worth "more than five and less than ten million" dollars.
• Anton Marsayrik, a leader of men—and of the many refugee Carpathian glass blowers who had come to work in a local factory. He knew a kindness when he saw it.
• Paddy the Mop, leader of the town's large Irish population, who believed ”a little honest graft from pavin' streets or erectin' the county buildin' does small harm"—but considered Sime McCarthy and killing beyond the pale.
• Eugene, who thought of himself as his boss' trained snake, and his gun as the fangs. He dreamed of putting a bullet into Maggie—he'd never seen Toots wield a steamer trunk.
• Powell Lee Coffin, high-class criminal, who fell genuinely in love with Maggie. She knew he was sincere when he asked her to sail around the world with him as "a kind of high-class hussy."

Another suspenseful, pixilated, classic romantic Kelland thriller from the pages of the legendary Saturday Evening Post, never before reprinted—for the first time ever in book form!

“Bright and breezy mystery and romance.” —Kirkus Reviews