In this new series, with its down-home appeal, Mac McCarty has dodged death during WWI dogfights and while racing his motorcycle on the lethal backcountry circuits. Now his current boss, attorney Asa Burton, has helped wealthy Isaac Anderson transfer his zinc mine to his prodigal son, Andy, in hopes of instilling some sense of responsibility in the wayward young man. It’s 1937 and Mac maintains a room at Our Motor Court, run by widowed Lydia James. Mac likes the unfussy room and its convenient location on Route 66. He and Lydia develop a friendship bordering on romance, and Mac often borrows her truck when his motorcycle won’t work. Out on a date with Lydia, Mac spots the gangster Carlo Manzetti and suspects he might well be among the thugs threatening Andy. During a visit to the Anderson estate, Mac meets the housekeeper’s attractive daughter, who’s known Andy for years and tells Mac that they once had an affair. At the main house, Mac talks to Andy’s lovely wife, Gwennie, and to his father, who tells him that although Andy isn’t stealing from the mine, he’s getting money from somewhere to bankroll his drinking, gambling, womanizing, and—probably—illicit drug use. After Mac interviews mine manager Dan Darrow and secretary Ava Patterson, he discovers that the mine trucks are being used to transport bootleg hooch to a nightclub Mac visits with Ava. Andy, who’s living in an apartment with Verna Reed over a hardware store, is absent when Mac calls. Next day, Verna is found dead, and Mac takes on the dangerous task of trying to keep Andy out of jail for murder.