Well, there goes another 99¢ ... Richard Deming's
Tweak the Devil's Nose features Manville (Manny) Moon, a PI with "a grim contraption of cork, steel, aluminum and leather, where his right leg used to be" and a face that looks like "a battered Saint Bernard". His normal stomping ground is Buffalo; this one, published in 1953, concerns the murder of the Lt Gov of Illinois.
A brief appreciation can be found at this
blog spot.