Baroni Hardcover – January 1, 1975 by Alfred Harris 
 
Rumpled, ploddingly brilliant LAPD homicide detective Lou Baroni is a widower hoping to get promoted to sergeant before his looming retirement. But Baroni's hopes are constantly thwarted by his venal, unappreciative boss and sabotaged by his ambitious young partner. They want Baroni to spend his final days investigating a recent murder that could lead to the headline-making arrest of an underworld kingpin. The problem is, Baroni is obsessed with the apparent, accidental death of a woman who fell five stories from her apartment window. Baroni is convinced that her henpecked, but likeable husband pushed her...and he's willing to risk his badge, and his meager pension, to prove it.

"What starts out as a seemingly ordinary police procedural, with a touch of Columbo thrown in, turns out to be a delightfully clever, surprisingly heartwarming twist on all of the genre's tropes. Harris delivers everything you'd expect from a crime story and so much more, leading to a surprise ending that will leave you smiling. I absolutely loved it." Lee Goldberg, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lost Hills

"Baroni moves with confidence, avoids cliche and is neatly plotted. You will like this one." New York Times

"You'll be glad to retire with him," Kirkus Reviews

"A clever, compelling mystery that will keep the reader absorbed until the end." Daily News, Michigan

The book was adapted into the French film Pile Ou Face, starring Philippe Noiret, often referred to as "the French Walter Matthau," as Baroni.
 
4.11