It’s February of 1976. Harry, former actor agent, then literary agent, then private detective, is once again happily retired—going to the office daily, reading the trades, lunching at the Hamburger Hamlet, sparring with his secretary Bernice, and listening to his beloved opera recordings—until he gets a call from Las Vegas lounge singer Buddy DeMarco. A decade earlier, one of Harry’s writer clients had written Buddy’s jokes and patter which Buddy is still doing at the Las Vegas Hilton. Buddy is receiving threatening notes, each more ominous than the last, and he implores Harry to take the case. Harry hates Vegas and has no intention of taking this or any other case there, but he goes as a favor to Buddy, fully intending to say no. Before returning home, however, Harry in turn gets a threatening note, warning him not to get involved. Of course, Harry takes the case.
What follows is a colorful, often hilarious, frequently baffling, mystery as Harry goes down the rabbit hole list of suspects, each of them someone Buddy has seriously mistreated at one time or another. As the notes become more threatening, they know the clock is ticking before whoever is behind them follows through on the threats.
Taking place in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Vegas Can Be Murder features guest appearances by the likes of Liberace and Frank Sinatra, Bernice running amok in the casino, and Harry remaining doggedly on the case.