Small-time New York private detective Harry Donovan has personal and financial problems and when rumour suggests there's a bounty on the head of a big-time wanted fraudster linked to the jewellery business, Harry decides to track him down. Cyprus is where he thinks the action is but Harry has never been out of America before, needs help and things get complicated. Others get involved and it turns out it's not just fake jewellery but fraud on international construction projects involving banks, lawyers and a much wider criminal network than Harry ever realised. Harry, out of his depth, depressed and facing bankruptcy over his financial problems, starts to lose the plot. His only solace in life is Beryl who runs his Harlem office but with two other private detectives already killed at the hands of the criminal gang can Harry survive long enough to claim a $250,000 bounty?
Crook Chase is the fifth in the Asher & Asher series of international crime investigations. This time it's Asher & Asher's tight-fisted Colin Asher, field-man, Mark Dobson and new recruit Ritchie Dolan who are involved, bringing with them Sam Smith, a professional hacker with Irish mobsters on his back, Boris Brown, a retired London police officer with breaking and entering skills and a Greek teenager, Curly Kostas selling flake jewellery on the streets of Athens.