"Grafton's novel is not simply a historical curio, but a genuinely offbeat and entertaining suspense story."—The Washington PostThe second book in the Library of Congress Crime Classics, an exciting new classic mystery series created in exclusive partnership with the Library of Congress. In this exquisite piece of hard-boiled crime fiction, is this lawyer digging his way to the truth, or digging his own grave?A timeless and propulsive story, The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope is:For fans of historical crime mysteries and crime classicsFor readers who love the works of Sue GraftonShort, chubby, and awkward with members of the opposite sex, Gil Henry is the youngest partner in a small law firm, not a hard-boiled sleuth. So when an attractive young woman named Ruth McClure walks into his office and asks him to investigate the value of the stock she inherited from her father, he thinks nothing of it—until someone makes an attempt on his life.Soon Gil is inadvertently embroiled in a classic Ame