Prince of The City - Nine Lives - Prince of the City, #1

Vic is encouraged to work other cases as the search continues for the collar of a missing Persian Blue cat, while he also tries to understand why dead men keep turning up in the Mersey. He at first must negotiate his best friend Percy's release from the Russians, who want to recover a cache of guns they believe he is holding. He is engaged by the wife of a wealthy business man, Cyril Longthorne; who believes her husband is being held against his will by a group stealing his money.
Vic is forced to travel to the popular seaside town of Southport to unravel the mystery, but gets far more than he bargained for, when associates of Cyril's are murdered before he can talk to them....