Detective Mike Hammer uses his savvy grit against deceptive enemies in Southern California.
After a friend is killed investigating the death of his son, Mike keeps following the trail, leading to Russian mobsters.
An accused polluter hires Mike but then the reporter who did an expose on the him is found dead making him a murder suspect.
Hammer is hired to look into the disappearance of a girl who may have been killed in a ""snuff film"" shown on the internet.
When a basketball player's sports agent is murdered just before he becomes the number one pick in the draft, he turns to Mike to prove his innocence. Was it the player, Mayron Hughes; his father Norton ""Norrie"" Hughes; his childhood friend who was injured and now has a licensing business, Desmond Ishmael; his new sports agent, Susan Wake; or his teammate and competitor, Elvin Grace?
Mike flies to tinseltown to help an actress accused of murdering her lover and producer.
Someone seems to be targeting Hammer's friends in the style of a cultist killer whom Mike put in jail.
A surgery patient's body emits noxious gasses, killing him and three members of a surgical team. His daughter hires Mike.
The murder of a priest puts Hammer on the trail of a serial killer murdering prostitutes. Spoilers Faith, a prostitute, is murdered. After a priest, Father Dressler, asks Hammer to protect ladies of the evening, he is murdered. Faith's body is found with a wooden cross and a red wig. The killer next murders Rosie. Suspects include Father James, the handyman Ozzie, construction executive Jason Carter and Slick, a pimp. Slick is murdered to draw Hammer into a trap. The killer tracks down and kills Angel, who saw him pick up Rosie. Finally, Candy, a prostitute and friend of the murdered girls, offers to be bait to draw out the killer but things go awry and Hammer races to find her before the killer adds her to his list of victims.
When a simple minded janitor all but frames himself for the murder of a stockbroker, he asks Mike Hammer to prove his innocence.
After witnessing suspicious behavior between a cop and a mobster, Mike saves the cop's life and the mobster is arrested. Then on his birthday, Mike gets a call saying he has 24 hours to live.
After a hard boiled mystery writer hires Mike to help him with an ending to his latest book, he is murdered. Mike, Velda and Nick realize the book was based upon an actual disappearance or murder and try to solve it in order to find out who murdered the writer.
When the artist Velda is seeing is murdered, Mike looks into it. Was the killer the assistant artist who may have been painting forgeries, the gallery owner, the jealous ex-girlfriend who gets into a catfight with Velda, the rich collector whose daughter he was romancing or the art reviewer dabbling in blackmail?
When Mike's former flame is accused of murdering her former husband and co-star right before their broadway play opens, Mike tries to clear her. Is the killer the producer / director, the business manager, her understudy, the victim's understudy or the stagehand who seems to be stalking her?
Mike is a two time convict's alibi when a cutting edge computer chip stolen by a masked murderer with the same modus operandi and even the same limp.
The murder of an investigative reporter was a friend of Mike's leads the private eye to stolen satellite photos.
Barry Lawrence is running for district attorney and he becomes Hammer's main suspect when his mistress is murdered.
After Hammer berates a radio host on the air for telling Mike's girlfriend to dump him, he becomes a suspect when the host is murdered.
Mike goes to Texas to attend a friend's wedding but organ thieves have kidnapped his fiancé.
When Maya Ricci's paramour comes to town, he draws Maya and Mike into a web of espionage and assassination.
When a gambling buddy of Mike's is murdered, he is asked to help out with the buddy's race horse.
Lila B is a singer who is romantically involved with a mobster, Johnny Dive. When she becomes a murder suspect, Mike tries to help.
Mike tries to extricate Lila B. from her troubles.
Mike and Skip are trapped in a bar by bank robbers. And they left their guns at home because they were going fishing.
A friend of Mike's who is believed dead turns up and asks Mike to find out who was behind the attempt on his life and the deaths of two others, who were less lucky.
Mike investigates the death of a tobacco company scientist who was about to testify.
After solving who killed the scientist, Mike investigates who killed a member of a wealthy family that owns a tobacco company.
