Stumptown

Dex Parios is a very good private investigator, operating Stumptown Investigations in Portland. Unfortunately, she's a very bad gambler and ends up owing the Confederated Tribes of the Wind Coast for $17,616. Fortunately, Sue-Lynn, the head of the Confederated Tribes, will waive Dex's debt...if she will find Sue-Lynn's missing granddaughter.

Add in: two bad guys named Dill and Whale, one very rich, very powerful, and very connected man, and one easily broken car, shake well, and you get Stumptown.

Stumptown Investigations: Taking a Beating So You Don't Have To.

Tropes used in Stumptown include:

• Da Chief: The one at the local police station hates Dex (because she broke up his marraige).
• The Determinator: Dex manages to take brutal beatings and still keep going. Like a lot of other Greg Rucka female characters.
• Embarrassing First Name: Dex's full first name is Dexendrine.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: Dex's middle name is Callisto.
• Friend on the Force: Dex has one.
• In Medias Res: The first issue starts with Dill and Whale shooting Dex and leaving her for dead. We then go 27 hours earlier to find out how she got there.
• Les Yay: A little bit, although Dex says that she really doesn't know what team she plays for.
• Mafia Princess: Isabel Marenco.
• Private Detective: Dex.
• Shown Their Work: Almost everything about Portland is correct (especially since Greg Rucka lives there). Greg Rucka basically lives and breathes this trope.
• Spiritual Successor: To The Rockford Files.
• Those Two Bad Guys: Dill and Whale.